The Sight
by BonitaBreezy
Summary: When Roxas is forced to move from his home in Twilight Town to the big city of Hollow Bastion, he's less then pleased. As soon as he moves into his home, he's confronted with a certain redheaded problem. AkuRoku. Rated T for language
1. Flashes of Red

A/N: Okay…so this is my first attempt at yaoi, so, it ought to be interesting to say the least. I'm just running with this idea and hoping that it works out well. I'm totally open to constructive criticism (In fact, I hope for it. I love discussing my writing with other people), but I'm not too keen on flames. My leads are male and they will eventually end up MAKING OUT. You have officially been warned. Oh, by the way, I got my idea for this from The Mediator series. I don't remember who its by (I wanna say Jenny something, but who knows? Anyway, it's Meg Cabot's alter ego)

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 1

_Tuesday, early afternoon_

It was a big, beautiful house, but it wasn't home. Roxas stared at the mansion, trying to hide his pleasure at the beauty. He was mad, dammit!

At the age of seventeen, he'd been forced to moved away from Twilight Town, the place where he'd lived every second of his life, to the big city of Hollow Bastion. The house they were moving into was more of a mansion. It looked somewhat like a castle, the edifice made completely of stone, and a large circular tower on the left side of the house.

He couldn't deny its magnificence, but he also couldn't help but feel like he was betraying the small one story they'd owned back in Twilight Town. He was furious with his mother for forcing them to move. His mom had gotten a really good job offer, so they'd thrown away everything they had, ripping Roxas out of the middle of his junior year of high school to move across the country.

Roxas' mother approached, throwing her arm around his shoulders. "It's beautiful, isn't it? You see the tower room? That's yours." She smiled brightly, and he had to admit to a small thrill of excitement at the thought of the tower bedroom. He refused to let her see it, though. "Think of it as a fresh start, Roxas," she murmured. "I know you miss him, but this is a chance to move on with our lives and we should make the best of it."

He glared down at the rainbow shoelaces threaded through his shoes. They had been given to him as a joke last Christmas from his twin, Sora. Roxas had put them in his shoes to continue the joke and had never gotten around to taking them out.

It was Sora who tried next. While he'd been upset at the idea of moving, Sora had an incapacity to be mad for any true length of time. Roxas, however, could hold a grudge like no other.

"Come on, Roxas! Let's go check it out!" he exclaimed, latching his fingers around Roxas' wrist and pulling his less then enthusiastic brother through the front door. While Roxas tried to resist by digging his heels into the ground, it didn't much matter. Sora stopped dead in the entryway, staring with his mouth hanging wide open. His deep blue eyes glittered with excitement as he turned to look at Roxas.

"Look at it!" was all he could say. It was hard to fake being unimpressed. The hall was beautiful, furnished with dark wood, a large grand staircase extending from the second floor to the first, the handrails intricately carved and hooking out in opposite directions at the end. The second floor landing was open, only a handrail obstructing the view. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, electric candles placed inside it. A pair of French doors rested on the right side of the hall and an open archway on the right led to a large room that appeared to be a dining room. The floors were made of the same shiny wood as the stairs.

Sora began dragging Roxas again, exploring every nook and cranny of the house with intense pleasure. After they'd gone everywhere else, they finally came to a door at the end of the upstairs hallway. This door was the same dark wood as the rest, but it was different in the fact that there was a hook for a padlock on the outside of it. Roxas pulled the door open to be confronted with a narrow set of stairs and at least six locks lined up on the inside of the door. He started up the stairs, which creaked painfully loud in the sudden hush of silence that had befallen the twins. At the top of the stairs, they came to another door, which led out into a circular room with a pointed ceiling. The tower. Roxas' room. It really was amazing, with one rather large window overlooking the entire city, a paradise of solitary freedom.

The entire room was furnished, all the furniture rounded so it could fit comfortably in the round room. It was all made of black wood, the bed a king-sized canopy with deep red drapes. It was perfect.

Sora let out a low whistle. "Wow, Roxas, you're so lucky. Look at all of this!" Roxas nodded silently, going to stand by the window. He looked down at the yard below, where he could see the movers bringing box upon box into the house where his mom instructed they go.

Just when he began to feel that maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't be so bad, he felt it, a strange stirring inside his chest, like someone had just jostled his heart. He took in a sharp breath and whipped around, but he only caught a slight flash of red in the corner of the room.

Sora looked concerned. "What is it?"

Roxas shook his head, avoiding looking Sora in the eyes. "It's nothing. Nothing."

He felt bad about lying to Sora, his twin, best friend, and other half, but how could he not? Sora would think he was crazy if he knew the truth. Roxas wouldn't expect any different from him. It wasn't that Sora was quick to judge, but how could anyone be considered sane when they saw what Roxas did?

Sora looked like he was about to say something, but there was the loud tread of footsteps on the creaky stairs before he could. Two big guys made their appearance, both lugging a stack of three big boxes apiece. Those six boxes held everything Roxas owned. He'd had to get rid of a lot during the move, including all his furniture. His mother must have known that his room came pre-furnished.

"Where do you want it, kid?" One of the guys grunted.

"Just put it anywhere," Roxas waved his hand vaguely over the room.

The boxes were set in the "corner" (circles don't have corners, but they were out of the way, nonetheless), and the guys lumbered back downstairs. Roxas grabbed the closest box (they were all neatly labeled "Roxas' junk") and lifted it onto his bed, pulling the top open. His clothes looked out at him, all still on the hanger due to Roxas' laziness. He grabbed a handful of hanger heads and pulled half of the clothes out of the box. There was an old fashioned bureau with two doors that opened out instead of a closet, so Roxas hung them in there.

He continued with this method until the two boxes full of clothes were hung up, or, in the case of his pajamas and underclothes, stacked in the small dresser/bedside table.

He stacked the empty cartons next to the door, turning to the boxes filled with his stuff. He grabbed the biggest one and hefted it up, knowing that his stereo was in there. He had his stereo set up in minutes, the main console sitting on top of the bedside table, the four speakers placed strategically around the room. He dove back into the box and pulled out his CD case, popping in The Used.

It was his favorite CD for the moment, the perfect mix of heavier stuff and nice soft ballad types. The music made unpacking pass much faster, and soon, there was a knock on his door, Sora sub-sequentially entering without waiting for an answer. He plopped himself on Roxas' bed and surveyed the room, finally nodding with consent.

"I like what you've done with the place," he grinned.

"Thanks," Roxas muttered distractedly organizing his books on a shelf.

"Mom sent me up to tell you its time to eat," Sora said a bit impatiently. If there was one thing to be said about Sora, it was that he had a stomach as big as his heart. With those two extremely large bits, Roxas sometimes had to wonder where Sora's body kept all his other organs. He stuck the last book in its place and stood up, dusting imaginary dust from his jeans.

"All right. Lets go." Sora jumped up and raced down the stairs, Roxas following at a leisurely pace behind him. They had to step around boxes all over the place, making an impromptu maze until they finally reached the kitchen, where two boxes of pizza and a two-liter of Coke awaited them. His mother had pulled out the fine china (also known as paper plates, cups, and napkins) because she had yet to unpack any real dishes. Just as well, though. It meant there were no dishes to be done.

They were barely five minutes into their meal when the doorbell rang, a loud chiming throughout the house.

"I'll get it," Roxas and Sora said in the same breath, heading to the front door. They hardly glanced at each other, neither bothering to stop and sit back down as they made their way around the boxes. Roxas actually reached the door first, pulling it open to reveal three people. The first two he focused on were girls, one with hair the color of red wine; the other's a blonde so pale it was almost white. They had the same face, undoubtedly sisters.

A silver-haired male stood to one side, his face impassive. His arms were crossed over his chest, revealing him to be, quite frankly, ripped. Roxas vaguely wondered how any one person could get muscles like that.

"Er, hi. Jeez, Sora, get off!" he greeted awkwardly, almost falling flat on his face as Sora barreled into his back, trying to see around the door. "Can I help you?"

"Hi!" the red headed girl greeted brightly. "My name is Kairi. This is my twin, Naminé. The grouchy one is Riku. We just wanted to be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood!" She spoke very fast, not letting a word in edgewise, but she seemed nice enough. Neither Naminé nor Riku said a word during this entire exchange, though Naminé did smile shyly in his direction.

"I'm Sora!" His brother had finally pushed his way into the view of the door, a happy grin spreading across his face. Sora had always loved making new friends and meeting new people. "This is my twin, Roxas."

"Wow, another set of twins!" Kairi exclaimed excitedly. Roxas was almost shocked. Her bubbly attitude was enough to rival Sora's. That in and of itself was an extreme accomplishment and a tiny bit scary to think about. The havoc those two could wreak upon the world…

Naminé's eyes met his and she smiled as if to show him that she completely agreed with his conclusion.

"Is she always like this?" Roxas asked her. She let out a tiny grin and nodded.

"Yes. Is he?"

"Absolutely," Roxas sighed. They would have said more, but they were interrupted by loud shrieks of, "We should totally hang out!" "Totally!" from both their siblings.

"God, Sora, could you get any more flamboyantly gay?" Roxas sighed.

"You're just jealous because you're not as comfortable in your own skin as I am," Sora sang teasingly.

His twin was the epitome of the gay guy, while Roxas himself was much less flashy about his sexual preference. Roxas didn't see any point in pointing it out unless he was asked. After all, did any one else introduce them self by saying, "Hi, I'm so-and-so, I'm straight."? No. No they didn't.

"Roxas, Sora? The food is getting cold!" their mother called from the kitchen.

"Be right there, mom!" they called in unison.

"We've got to go, but we should definitely hang out soon," Sora gushed.

"Here, give me your number!" Kairi pulled out a pink cell phone and exchanged hers with Sora's. Naminé cast Roxas a quick grin and held up her phone, which was encased in a white cover. Roxas handed her his own and he entered his number into it and gave it back.

"Great, we'll talk to you later!"

"Bye!" They closed the door and started back towards the kitchen.

"They seemed nice," Sora commented as they made their way back toward the kitchen.

"I don't know, the guy gave me a weird feeling," Roxas muttered.

"He's probably just shy," Sora shrugged.

"I don't know. He made me uneasy."

Sora shot him a long, hard look.

"You're probably just imagining things. He's most likely harmless." Roxas nodded but he wasn't convinced. He couldn't quench down the uncomfortable feeling, and it didn't make him feel any better when he saw that flash of red out of the corner of his eye again. It made him think back to the conversation he'd almost had with his brother earlier that afternoon. He knew he'd have to talk to Sora eventually, but he wasn't quite sure what he was going to say. After all, how were you supposed to tell someone that you could see, speak to, hear, and touch ghosts?

--

A/N: So, there ya go. First chapter, what do you think? I know, no Axel yet, but he'll be here soon enough. Most likely in the next chapter. If not, the one after that, definitely. Reviews make me giggle.


	2. Losing Your Cool

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome). Song lyrics (Roxas' ring tone) belong to The Used.

Chapter 2

_Tuesday, late night_

Roxas fell onto his bed, uncomfortable at the lack of proper sheets. The bed was rounded, and the only bedding they owned was rectangular. His mom had agreed to order him custom-made bedding, but until they got the time and resources to do so, Roxas had to keep on trucking with adapted bedding.

He stared intently at the ceiling, wondering what he could do with it. The roof came up into a point and there was no real ceiling. It was actually just the rafters that held the roof up, but they were promising. Maybe he could hang a flag from them or something? There was one part that looked like a platform, maybe some sort of loft, but there didn't appear to be any way to get up there. It had probably been used for storage.

A flash of red caught in the corner of his eye. He glanced over to see that the window had been pushed open. The window had hinges on the side, so it swung outward instead of pushing up. Roxas debated getting up and closing it, but doing so would mean he had to lean his upper body out the window, and he wasn't sure what this ghost wanted with him yet. It might just push him.

Roxas had been seeing ghosts since he was a little kid. When he was younger, he hadn't really realized that it was weird. He'd openly talk to them in public and they wouldn't ask for his help. All the spirits that had found him then meant him no harm and realized that he was too young to be of any help at all.

Roxas' parents had become worried when they realized he spent all his time talking to "himself" instead of the other kids. They took him into a children's councilor for help. As it turned out, the councilor could see ghosts just like Roxas could. He'd explained what was happening and warned him not to talk to them in front of other people. He'd told Roxas that he was special. He'd told Roxas' parents that Roxas was merely being a child, playing with his imaginary friends.

Roxas was eleven when he'd first been asked for help. The ghost had been a little girl, and all she'd wanted was her teddy bear. That had been quite a simple task, really. All he'd had to do was find it in the woods where the girl had dropped it when her murderer had led her through and bury it next to her grave.

Roxas was twelve when he met his first hostile ghost. They were few and far between. He'd been a murder victim who'd wanted Roxas to get him revenge. When Roxas had refused, the ghost had taken control of a car and hit Sora with it. He'd been in the hospital for weeks in recovery. Still, Roxas had figured that it was one bad seed among the other good ones.

It was when he was thirteen that everything changed. That one hostile ghost had gotten so angry, it destroyed Roxas' whole life. All their lives… _Don't think about that! _Roxas told himself sternly.

That was when Roxas decided he wasn't going to help any more ghosts. It was just too dangerous to get involved. It could hurt the people he loved. So, whenever a ghost came around to ask his help, or merely just to talk, he ignored them. He pretended he didn't see them.

They would always test him out, moving things around or making quick appearances to judge his reactions. They knew he could see them, but when he didn't react, they knew he was in denial and left him be. Most of them did, at least. This new one had tried to get his attention four times already. They usually stopped after that. This new one was a bit desperate, apparently. Still, Roxas would not be swayed. This ghost would have to get right in his face for Roxas to even consider noticing him.

There was a flurry of wind that rustled his hair, coming from the opposite direction of the window. A few seconds later, the window closed and latched shut. Roxas let out a victorious smirk, pulled the blanket over himself and fell asleep, fully dressed.

_Wednesday, early afternoon_

"…_Shot down by people whose glances can wither the heart and devour the soul. All alone he turns to stone…"_

Roxas let out a groan and reached out toward the bedside table, his hand groping for his phone. He finally got it under his fingertips and pulled it under the blanket and up to his ear.

"'Lo?" he greeted with a slight yawn.

"Roxas? I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" A quiet female voice sounded from the other side of the phone, slightly apologetic tones ringing in his ear.

"It's fine," he slurred, blinking his eyes and trying to rub away the sleep.

"I thought you would be awake by now. It is two o' clock, after all."

Roxas was kind of shocked to hear the time, but he was still exhausted. He hadn't slept very well the night before, what between the discomfort of being in a new place and the ghost pushing things one by one off his desk, trying to get his attention.

Roxas was surprised it hadn't shown itself yet. If it wanted so badly to be noticed, why wouldn't it take on a physical form? At least then Roxas could beat the hell of it for being so damn annoying.

"Long night," he muttered. "Who's this?" He'd forgotten to ask, but he suddenly remembered he had no idea who he was talking to.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Naminé. We met yesterday, remember?" Roxas nodded before remembering that she couldn't see him.

"Right, yeah. I remember." He sat up in bed, looking at his stuff on the floor, vaguely wondering if anything had been broken.

"Your brother, my sister, and Riku went off early this morning for a tour of the city. Sora said you'd be asleep for a few more hours, so I thought maybe you might like to take a walk with me?" She spoke uncertainly, shyly. Roxas was sure it had taken her a long time of talking herself up to make the call and he hadn't been the most pleasant to her.

"Yeah, sure. We can do that," he answered. "Give me twenty minutes to shower and get ready, okay?"

"Of course. I'll see you then," she answered, her voice a bit happier then it had been a minute before.

They hung up, Roxas lugging himself out of bed and grabbing his shower bag, getting ready to head toward the stairs so he could take a shower when a thin rope hit his shoulder. He was almost positive it hadn't been there before and that it was an attention act by the ghost. When he looked up, however, he could see it was connected to the center of the platform wall. He had to admit, he was curious. He gave the rope a slight jerk and the wall let out a slight groan and fell forward. He backed up a pace as it hit the ground with a soft thud. On the other side of the wall was a staircase, leading up to the loft.

Roxas was too curious to pass the opportunity up. He went up the stairs, and at the top he was confronted with a door that had been hidden behind the stairs/wall. He pushed it open to find a small bathroom, complete with a shower. One wall was made completely of a black curtain, which, when pushed back, revealed a large window that opened out to a small balcony on the back of the tower. Roxas decided he would explore that later, as he now only had roughly twelve minutes until he had to meet Naminé. He tried the shower, pleased to see that the bathroom was even connected to the water main as water instantly shot from the showerhead. He'd found a brighter side to moving away from Twilight Town. Not only did he have his own room, but his own bathroom as well. He was satisfied with this for a moment before he remembered he was supposed to be pissed off. He fixed his face in a scowl and shed his clothes, stepping into the shower.

He was halfway through washing his hair when he remembered that he didn't have a towel. He let out a sigh, and then decided to fix the problem after his shower. When he stepped out five minutes later, however, his favorite blue towel was folded neatly on the counter, waiting for him. Scrawled in messy hand in the fog on the mirror were the words, "You're welcome". He scowled at it as he tucked the towel around his waist and brushed his teeth, finally swiping his hand over the words to erase them. Why wouldn't this one give up?

He made his way back down to his room and got dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black and white checkered hoodie. He slipped on his shoes just as the doorbell rang. He ran a hand through his still wet hair as he started down the stairs.

"Roxas! There's a _girl_ here for you!" his mother called teasingly up the stairs. She always joked that she would force one of her sons onto girls so she could have grandchildren. Roxas thought this was especially funny, because even if he were straight, he wouldn't have kids. He hated kids; they annoyed the hell out of him.

Naminé looked almost ghostly herself, with her pale skin, dressed completely in white. The only bit of color about her was her bright blue eyes.

"Hello Roxas. Are you ready?" she greeted with a smile.

"Hi, Naminé. Yeah, lets get going."

They left the house and started down the street in relative silence. It wasn't really awkward, but it was quiet. That's why Roxas was so surprised when Naminé glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and asked, "Do you realize there's a ghost following you?"

He almost choked on his own tongue, staring at her in shock.

"You…you can see them too?" he half-whispered. She smiled shyly at him, her eyes down cast.

"Ever since I was a little girl." She sounded so sad when she said it, and Roxas could understand it completely.

"What did they do to you?" he asked.

"They didn't do anything to me, not really," she admitted. "I…made the mistake of mentioning it to the other students and I've been somewhat of a leper ever since. They call me ghost girl." Roxas had an immediate rush of gratitude that he'd never told anyone about his affliction. He also felt pretty bad for Naminé. He knew how hard life with ghosts was. Naminé let out a little giggle then.

"It might have been the way I said it, though."

"Let me guess," Roxas sighed. "I see dead people?" Naminé giggled again and nodded.

"I couldn't help it. The Sixth Sense is the reason I decided to "come out" to my family. They're the only ones that believe me," she sighed a little sadly.

"I believe you," Roxas said.

She smiled at him. "How did you come out?" she asked.

"In which respect? My ability to see ghosts, or my sexuality?" Naminé giggled again.

"To see ghosts, of course."

Roxas looked at her, amazed by her bravery to tell people. Being gay was at least somewhat accepted by the world. Seeing ghosts? Yeah, right.

He shrugged. "I haven't." She came to a stop, staring at him, eyes wide.

"You haven't told your family?" she gasped.

"You're the first person I've ever told, except for a councilor I had when I was a little kid. He told me I shouldn't tell anyone and I never have."

"Does Sora know?"

The blonde shook his head uncomfortably. "No. I don't…want to be committed or anything. My parents already thought I was weird when I was a kid, I don't need my mom thinking I've gone nuts."

Naminé looked sad at the thought.

"How have you managed taking care of all those spirits by yourself for so long?" she asked.

"I don't take care of them. I ignore them until they go away," Roxas grumbled. Again, Naminé looked shocked.

"Roxas! It's our duty to take care of them!"

Roxas was suddenly mad, years of pent up anger with no one to talk to spilling out at once.

"Whose responsibility is it? Certainly not mine! I never asked for this, Naminé! I'd be so happy if these stupid ghosts would all just go away and leave me the hell alone! Their death is their own damn problem and I'm really not interested in helping them out! They can find someone else, because I'm not interested!" Roxas then wheeled around to look at the place where he knew the specter was standing, though it was still hiding from him. "You hear me?" he yelled. "I don't want anything to do with you, so go the hell away! I'm not going to help you, so you might as well give up!"

"Stop yelling, Roxas. This one is stubborn. It's not just going to go away, I can tell," Naminé murmured quietly. The sound of her voice pierced through the hazy cloud of anger in his mind. He let out a ragged breath, relaxing a bit. She probably thought he was completely insane.

"I'm sorry, Naminé. I…just have never been able to talk about this stuff before. I guess it all just built up and spilled over."

Naminé's hands came up to rest on his shoulders and she looked him in the eyes.

"I understand Roxas. Your secret is safe with me, I promise. You can talk to me anytime you need to vent." As she spoke, Roxas felt a giant weight lift from his shoulders, one that had been there as long as he could remember.

"Thanks, Naminé."

"Of course, Roxas. We have to stick together, don't we?"

"Yeah. We do." Roxas was almost relaxed when a slight wind ruffled their hair and a voice murmured in his ear,

"_Oh, well aren't you two just the cutest?"_

--

A/N: I know, I know! Still no Axel! But guess what? If you review, he will come. XD


	3. Enter Axel

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 3

_Wednesday, mid-afternoon_

"Roxas!" a bundle of brown hair came flying out of nowhere, smacking into Roxas and obstructing his view. His arms instantly snatched up and caught his brother.

"You know, Sora, it's been less then twenty-four hours since we last saw each other," Roxas said.

"I was afraid you'd died, Roxas! I knocked on your door-both of them-but you didn't answer!" Sora pulled away, his bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement and laughter.

"I was sleeping Sora." Now that Roxas could actually see, he saw that Kairi and Riku were with Sora. Riku looked a little happier then he had the day before, but that wasn't much of a surprise. Sora just had the effect on people. Everyone loved Sora and it was impossible to be unhappy around him.

"What were you two doing?" Kairi asked with a sly grin. Roxas had to keep himself from snorting at Kairi's "knowing" smile.

"We were talking," Naminé smiled.

"Just talking, huh?" Kairi grinned. "What were you talking about?"

"Ghosts," Naminé grinned. Kairi's mouth formed a tiny 'o' and her eyes went wide, but only for a split second. It was instantly replaced by another grin.

"So, you two are pretty cozy together, now, huh? Think it'll go anywhere?" Roxas could tell she was trying to get them to blush or squirm.

"I doubt it," Roxas sighed as Sora cracked up behind him.

"Why? My sister isn't good enough for you?" Kairi demanded.

"Kairi…" Naminé tried.

"Well, quite honestly, no," Roxas admitted. He was pretty amazed that Kairi hadn't picked up that he was gay from his conversation with Sora yesterday, but then again, she hadn't really been paying much attention to him in the first place.

His last comment made Kairi's eyes burn with rage. "Well, what's wrong with her? She's pretty…"

"No denying that," Roxas said.

"She's smart…"

"Absolutely."

"And talented."

"I completely agree."

"Then what's wrong with her?!" Kairi screamed. Roxas was having the hardest time keeping a straight face and Sora was leaning against Riku to keep from falling over, howling with silent laughter.

"She's a girl," Roxas answered. Kairi looked ready to rear up and scream again, but then her eyes widened a bit and she let out a breath.

"Oh," she said with a small grin. Finally, Sora couldn't hold it in anymore. He started laughing out loud, the only thing keeping him upright being Riku's arm around him.

"Oh, Nami!" Kairi sighed dramatically. "Why is it that all the good looking guys around here are gay? Demyx, Hayner, Riku, Zexion, and now the new kids! Could you imagine how great that would have been? Twins! What is a girl to do? Let us go my sister, to the local convent!"

Naminé was giggling behind her hand at her sister's antics.

"Why do you call her Nami?" Sora asked.

"All my family calls me Nami," Naminé shrugged. "Only my family, though," she warned. Sora nodded with a grin.

Roxas noticed that Sora and Riku were never too far away from each other, both glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes when they thought no one was looking. Now that Riku wasn't being "grumpy" as Kairi had put it, Roxas didn't feel as uneasy about him.

"Hey Sora, can I talk to you for a minute?" Roxas called. Sora looked over, his eyes going wide. He looked the slightest bit guilty, as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He followed Roxas a couple paces away, far enough to where they wouldn't be overheard, but close enough to where they wouldn't get separated.

"What is it, Roxas?" Sora asked innocently.

"You know perfectly well what it is!" Roxas cried. "I'll bet you're ecstatic to find out that Riku is gay, huh?" he grinned. Sora blushed the slightest bit, looking at the ground.

"You think he'd be interested?" Sora murmured with a slight glint in his eyes.

"Well, he's staring at you right now, so I'd say so," Roxas responded. Sora's head snapped around, then forward to look at Roxas again all in the span of three seconds.

"Is he really?" Sora squealed excitedly.

"Would I lie?"

"Is it, like, a blank stare? Or is it interested?"

"It looks like he's undressing you with his eyes, actually," Roxas muttered. Sora bounced a bit, silently clapping his hands.

"I need to spend some more time with him!" Sora insisted.

"You want me to take Kairi off your hands?" Roxas asked knowingly.

"Would you? I like her, a lot, but…I can't have her around when I'm trying to make my move, ya know?"

Roxas laughed again and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I've got you covered Sora, no worries."

"You're the best, Roxas!" Sora threw his arms around him quickly, then ran back to talk to Riku. Roxas pulled out his cell phone, finding Naminé's number in his contact list and calling her phone.

"Hello?" her voice came from over by Sora and through the phone.

"Naminé, its Roxas. Don't act surprised or anything, but I need you to tell Kairi anything to get her to come with us. Sora wants some alone time with Riku."

"All right, mom. We'll be right there," Naminé answered.

"You're so devious. You make me proud."

"Of course, mom. Do you want us to pick anything else up from the store?"

"Look at the way Kairi is looking at you," Roxas laughed.

"I love you too, mom. Bye." Naminé hung up the phone and Roxas discreetly slipped his back in his pocket, walking over to join them.

"What's going on, Nami?" Kairi asked.

"Mom wants us to grab some bread from the store and head home." Naminé lied flawlessly. Roxas wouldn't have thought she was capable of it. It appeared she wasn't as innocent as she looked.

"Oh. All right. I guess we have to go, guys," Kairi seemed disappointed.

"I'm gonna head home, too, Sora. I still have some unpacking to do," Roxas said. Sora nodded.

"All right. I'll see you at home later."

The group said their good-byes and split up, Roxas and the girls going one way and Riku and Sora the other way. As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Kairi's eyes narrowed.

"Okay guys, what's going on? Mom bought bread yesterday," Kairi hissed. Naminé laughed.

"That was Roxas on the phone. He was helping Sora get some alone time with Riku. It was less conspicuous then all of us suddenly having to leave for no reason."

Kairi's eyes glinted. "Oh! They would make such a cute couple!"

"They would balance each other out well, too," Naminé pointed out. "Riku's a little too serious…"

"And Sora's a hyper imp," Roxas snorted. The girls laughed.

They were silent for a long while, before the silence apparently was too much for Kairi.

"Nami. Earlier you said that you two were talking about ghosts." She cast a probing glance at her sister. "Were you really?" Naminé nodded.

"But why would you do that?" Kairi hissed. "After everything that has happened!" Naminé cast Roxas a quick glance and he shook his head. He didn't want anyone to know, even if she had apparently accepted it in someone else.

"Roxas is being followed by a ghost and I saw it," Naminé shrugged. "I thought he ought to know."

Kairi shook her head. "You're crazy, Nami." She looked at Roxas now. "You don't think its weird? What she can do?"

Roxas let out a short laugh. "Of course it's weird. Its downright freaky, but I like Naminé. I just moved here, after all. I don't have the freedom to be choosy."

"That is true," Kairi grinned.

_Wednesday, evening_

Roxas was sitting in the kitchen, eating real food off of real plates. He was amazed at how much his mom had managed to unpack in the span of the day. It actually looked like a house, most of the furniture in its correct places, knickknacks and pictures put on the furniture, an afghan thrown over the back of the couch. The electronics were all set up and plugged in. There were several bunches of boxes, all broken down and tied together waiting in the front yard to picked up on garbage day. Most of the other boxes had been put in the basement. These were things that had originally been in the basement of their house in Twilight Town. Even though basically all their things had been unpacked, the house still looked pretty empty. It was because this new house was so big compared to their old one; they didn't have nearly enough stuff to fill it.

Sora was alternately shoveling food into his mouth and talking about his time spent with Riku. Apparently Riku was polite, gorgeous, funny, gorgeous, smart, a little bit sarcastic maybe, but did he mention gorgeous?

After dinner, Roxas had to do the dishes, so Sora escaped up to his room to call Riku. It was official. The boy had an obsession.

It was then that Roxas found another downside to the new house. No dishwasher. He let out an exasperated sigh, setting about doing the dishes by hand. He set the plates in a stack as he dried them and as he moved on to wash the pans he muttered, "Put those away, will you?" There was a few seconds where there was complete silence but for the rushing water as Roxas realized what he had done and then the dishes lifted from the counter, a cupboard door opened, and they slid in, setting themselves neatly inside, the door closing a moment later.

He'd acknowledged the presence. That was bad. He was supposed to completely ignore it, but he'd said something. This spirit was especially persistent, and now he was letting it win. He finished the dishes in complete silence, not bothering to argue as the wet dishes were plucked from his hands and dried in mid-air, then put in their proper places.

When the dishes were done (the process actually went a lot faster with the help, though he would never admit it), Roxas made his way up to his room, sliding the locks on the lower door shut. He was vehemently ignoring the ghost, and that apparently annoyed it greatly, as the bureau door flung wide open. The clothes started sliding off the hangers and flying in different directions all over the room, getting caught on the rafters and draping over furniture. Roxas let out a low growl and went to his dresser, ignoring the mess as he pulled out a pair of flannel pajama pants. He stripped down and had barely gotten the pajamas on when he was swung around suddenly.

He didn't have any time to react before he felt hands looping around his waist and a mouth on his, kissing him harshly. Roxas gasped a bit and attempted to push his assailant away, but this caused his mouth to open. A tongue dipped into his mouth and Roxas couldn't help it. It was a good kiss, a really good kiss. He moaned and stopped fighting, looping his arms around the person's neck and kissing back.

He only pulled away when he had to breathe, and then he remembered that he had been kissed against his will in the first place. He shoved the potential rapist away from him, and that's when he got a proper look.

He was tall and extremely thin, but he definitely had some muscle mass. His eyes were bright green, a small black tattoo underneath each of them. His hair was bright crimson (it couldn't possibly be natural, could it?) and hung in long spikes down his back. He didn't look like he was much older then Roxas, maybe a year or so. Oh yeah, and he was most definitely dead. The pale glow that surrounded him marked him as a spirit, and the annoyingly satisfied grin marked him as the very same spirit that had been harassing Roxas for the past twenty-four hours.

"What the hell?" Roxas gasped angrily.

"Oh, don't you pretend you didn't enjoy it," the spirit grinned cockily.

"I was just assaulted out of nowhere!" Roxas snapped.

"If that throaty moan you gave was clue, you greatly enjoyed it. I wish you'd known my name, I'd love to hear you moan it." Roxas blushed, looking away angrily.

"Get out, I already told you, I'm not going to help you," Roxas snapped.

"That's not very nice, Roxy. I helped you do your dishes, didn't I?"

"Don't call me Roxy! Anyway, this is different…" He trailed off, realizing he didn't know the spirit's name.

"Axel," he grinned. "A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

--

A/N: Axel is the ghost! Bet ya didn't see that coming! Okay, you most likely did. If you didn't, I'm actually a bit disappointed in you. You know what would be fantastic now? A review. Yeah. Those are pretty great. I'm with-holding an update until I get at least five, because I want to be sure I'm not just wasting my time.


	4. Breaking the Silence

A/N: I was so excoted about all the reviews, I just had to mention it up here apart from my usualy smatter! God, you people are fantastic, I'm so pumped right now!

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 4

_Wednesday, late night_

"Okay, Axel. Why the hell did you kiss me?" Roxas demanded, seething. Axel grinned lazily, leaning against the wall nonchalantly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"C'mon Roxas, I might be dead, but I'm still a hormonal teenager. Watching you strip was more then I could take. I just had to have a taste." Roxas glowered at him, not amused. He seemed unaffected by this, however, and continued speaking. "Besides, you've been sleeping in my bed, might as well share a little kiss, huh?"

This made Roxas freeze.

"What do you mean, your bed?" he demanded. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? This is my house. I live…well, lived, here. This is my bedroom, and that," he pointed to the bed, "was my bed."

Roxas a bit uncomfortable now, knowing that he slept in a dead person's bed. He hadn't…died in the bed, had he? Roxas vaguely wondered if this was a rude question to ask.

"What is it that you want from me, Axel?" Roxas asked tiredly.

"You're a bit slow aren't you?" Axel frowned. "I'm dead and you can see me, hear me, touch me. I want you to help me out."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You dead people are pretty damn self-absorbed. What makes you think I care about helping you?"

Axel looked thoughtful for a long minute, before he grinned.

"Well, I imagine I can't move from this world because I have unfinished business or whatever. If you don't help me out, I'm going to follow you around for the rest of your life and bug the hell out of you. Incentive enough for ya?"

Roxas closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is it that you need?"

Axel grinned at his victory. "I want you to find out about my death." Roxas blinked and looked at him for a long minute.

"Done," he finally answered. "From the looks of it, you starved yourself to death." Axel glared at him.

"Shut up. I had a thyroid problem, dammit. And no, I didn't off myself. I was murdered. I want to know who did it and why…"

"I don't take revenge for ghosts," Roxas growled. Axel shrugged.

"All right. I don't need revenge. I just wanna know who and why."

Roxas let out a load groan. He couldn't believe he was going to do this. It was a dishonor to his memory. Hadn't he promised never again? But still, he couldn't have Axel following him around…

"All right," he agreed. "I'll help you."

Axel grinned. "Great, thanks."

"Pick up my clothes and put them back," Roxas growled as he climbed into bed. Axel shot him a sarcastic salute and began gathering the clothing and hanging it back up where it belonged. Roxas was silent for a long time, wondering what he'd gotten himself into by agreeing to help. "How…how did it happen?" Roxas asked quietly. Axel froze in his motions, still as a statue. He turned to look at Roxas, his eyes sad.

"I don't really remember much," he sighed. "I remember being hit over the head from behind, but I don't remember why. I also remember waking up underwater. There were hands at my neck and I was clawing at them, trying to get up so I could breathe. It was dark, so I couldn't see anything. Everything just…went black. When I woke up, I was here. My family was gone and I've been here for nearly two months…just waiting, I guess."

Roxas nodded to show that he was listening. He hadn't spoken to a ghost in nearly four years, since he was too young to really think about death. Now, though, he was looking it in the face and he had to admit, he was curious.

"What was it like?" he asked. Axel blinked, coming back from his memory and snorted.

"It was pretty anticlimactic, actually. I totally thought my life would flash before my eyes, or I'd see a bright light." He shook his head, his spikes swaying with the motion. "Nope. It was black for a few seconds and then I woke up here. I may as well have fallen asleep for a minute or two."

Roxas watched the redhead as he spoke, looking for any signs that he was asking too many questions.

"So, you're pretty newly dead, aren't you?" he asked. Axel's eyes narrowed and he stuck his lower lip out petulantly. "I've been dead longer then you have," he retorted. Roxas snorted, amused at the way Axel tried to defend his one last claim to fame.

"Why is it that you stayed behind? Are you that desperate to know who did it?" Roxas asked.

Axel ran a hand through his hair. Roxas was amazed as he watched the spikes flex under his hand and spring back into place after it had passed. "I don't really know why I'm still here, Roxas. I guess I had some sort of deep desire to know while I was dying. Now, all I want to do is 'pass on' or whatever. It's boring as hell, sitting around in an empty house with no one to talk to but yourself." Axel slid the last t-shirt back on the hanger properly and stuck it in the closet. He approached the bed, watching Roxas' reaction as he lowered himself down to sit.

"So what's up with you, Roxy? What kinda freak are you that you can see ghosts?" He was just teasing, so Roxas couldn't rightfully flip out.

"I'm not a freak." He was pouting just the slightest bit, focusing on the ground. There was about twenty seconds of complete silence before Axel let out a moan and shot off the bed and across the room.

"My god, you have no idea how totally sexy you are, do you? Especially when you pout like that." He was determinedly looking anywhere but at Roxas.

"What…are you doing?" Roxas asked. Axel let out a frustrated growl.

"Damn, Roxy, you better put on a shirt if you don't want me to molest you right now."

Roxas opened his drawer and threw on a shirt, wondering if Axel had been serious about molesting him. He figured it was best not to ask.

Still, looking at him, Roxas had to admit that it might not be too bad. Now that he'd seen more then the annoying side of him (not to mention actually seen him) Roxas had to admit, he was pretty good looking. Who was he trying to kid? Axel was hot, incredibly sexy, completely gorgeous. Of course, Axel was dead. That could be a bit problematic, couldn't it? 'Mom, this is my boyfriend. You can't see him? Oh yeah, that's because he's dead. Oh, by the way, I see dead people.' Yup. That would go over real well.

"Damn, I should embarrass you more often. That's a cute little blush you've got there."

Roxas let out a sigh. Yeah, Axel was gorgeous. And then he opened his mouth and ruined it.

"All right," Roxas sighed. "It's late and I've got my first day at a new school in the morning."

Axel snorted. "It's fine, Roxas. Just steer clear of anyone who looks remotely dangerous and you'll be fine. Find a blonde named Demyx. He's a little, er, eccentric, but he's loveable enough. He'll love you, I know it, and people don't screw with Demyx because everyone loves him. Besides that, his boyfriend is scary as all hell."

Roxas let out a weak laugh and climbed under the blankets and relaxed. He hadn't realized just how exhausted he was until this moment.

"Would you get the lights, Axel?" Roxas murmured.

Just before the lights flipped off, Roxas could have sworn he heard Axel say, "Sweet dreams, Roxy." He must have been imagining it.

--

A/N: So, its all revealed! Actually, no it isn't, because I wouldn't have much a story line left if it was, would I? Still, you know that Axel drowned. What a sucky way to go, huh? I think that its really scary, because you know that all it would take was just a little more reaching and you could breathe, but its just not there. Yes, I almost drowned once, I came really close. Scariest thing in the world, I promise you. Reviews are the catalyst to my updating habits.


	5. A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 5

_Thursday, early morning_

The sun was evil. Oh so very evil. Roxas groaned and yanked the blanket over his face.

"Nope. None of that, Roxy. It's you first day at a new school, remember? You've got to get up. Sora's already tried to get to you, but you locked the door last night. So, I've taken it upon myself to make sure you make a good impression on your first day…Wow, Roxy, you've sure got a mouth on you." About halfway through Axel's little speech, Roxas had started a string of every cussword he knew. By the end, he still wasn't done yet. Nonetheless, Axel's task was accomplished. He was awake. Roxas sat up, wincing at the light that poured in through the window directly into his face. Axel had pulled the newly placed curtain aside in his attempts to wake Roxas up.

The blonde pulled himself out of bed, saw that he had twenty minutes and started towards the bathroom.

"Go away," he grumbled at Axel. "I'd enjoy to take a shower by myself, thank you." The redhead let out a barking laugh, gave a sarcastic bow, and disappeared. Roxas couldn't feel his presence anymore, so he knew he was really gone.

He rushed through his shower in ten minutes (a minor miracle for Roxas). When the blonde threw open his closet doors he found, much to his horror, that he had nothing to wear. With approximately eight minutes until he had to leave, Roxas acted out of panic. He flew down the stairs, unlocked his door and yelled, "Sora!"

If there was anyone who could throw together something presentable out of nothing in less then five minutes, it was Sora. Said brunet appeared moments later at the top of the stairs, half a pop-tart hanging out of his mouth. He took one look at Roxas in nothing but boxers and beater and nodded his head in determination, setting off up Roxas' stairs without a word. Roxas followed his twin, glancing nervously at the clock. Five minutes.

Roxas should have known better then to worry, though. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, Sora was throwing a pair of black jeans at him.

"Put those on," he instructed. Roxas looked at the jeans, hardly recognizing them. His mother had bought them a couple months back, but he'd never worn them. They were a bit too tight for his taste. Still, he didn't have any time to argue, so he slid them on, surprised at how well they fit. They weren't as restraining as he had originally thought they would be. He barely had time to marvel, though, as Sora threw a t-shirt in his face.

"Put that on too," he instructed. Roxas yanked off his beater and slid on the pale blue shirt. The sleeves were long, the cuffs at the end having holes sewn in to slide the thumbs through.

Sora surveyed his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction.

"Put on your chain," he instructed. "The one with the 'X' charm." Roxas did as he was told.

"Perfect!" Sora declared. "Hurry up and put your shoes on. We have to leave in two minutes."

Roxas did as he was told as Sora disappeared downstairs.

"You should let your brother dress you more often, Roxy. You look hot!" Roxas didn't even bother wasting the energy to glare at Axel. He glanced at himself in the mirror on the bureau door, and he had to concede to Sora's abilities. He did look pretty good. Roxas ran down the stairs, Axel following for lack of something better to do. They both came to a short stop in the hallway when they saw Riku waiting in the front hall.

"Oh. Hi, Riku. What are you doing here?" Roxas greeted.

"Acting as a chauffer, apparently," Riku grumbled.

"Kairi?" Roxas guessed.

Riku nodded. "Kairi."

Sora appeared from the kitchen, shoving a napkin into Roxas' hand and greeting Riku with a huge smile. Roxas saw some of Riku's tension disappear while looking at his brother.

Roxas glanced out of the corner of his eye to gauge Axel's reaction, but he was still frozen, his eyes stuck on Riku.

"I've got to grab my bag. Go on, I'll be out in a sec," Roxas said quickly. They nodded, not really paying attention, going out the front door.

"Axel? What's wrong?" Roxas demanded as soon as they were gone. Axel jumped a mile, looking at Roxas as if he'd never seen him before. He shook his head and sighed.

"I…uh…I know Riku," he answered honestly. "He is…was…my best friend. I guess I just…never expected to see him again, especially not here." Roxas nodded in understanding. He was going to ask more, but the horn blared from outside.

"Come on, Roxas!" Kairi yelled.

Roxas glanced at Axel, who was still completely lost in his own thoughts, before dashing out the door, bag swung over his shoulder.

They were waiting in a black corvette. Roxas nearly had a heart attack. His jaw dropped as he stared at the car.

"Don't drool on it," Riku said, laughing at Roxas' expression.

"Is…is she yours?" he asked. He'd never seen such a beautiful car in person before. Riku nodded with pride.

"Yup. She's all mine."

"What year? Looks like late sixties."

"Sixty-six."

Bring on the stroke. Roxas ran his hand along the side of the car, loving the feel of the smooth metal under his hands.

"Roxas, you can make love to Riku's car later. We've got to get going," Kairi teased.

Roxas blushed. "Uh, yeah…right. Sorry." Roxas climbed into the car next to Naminé, who sat in the middle, Kairi on her other side. Sora sat in the passenger seat next to Riku. Roxas raised an eyebrow at this, glancing at Kairi, who merely grinned and shot him a thumbs up. Apparently, Kairi had made it her goal for Riku and Sora to get together. Not to say that they needed any help. They already seemed very comfortable in each other's presence and Roxas knew that Sora was obsessed. Sora was a nice guy, always willing to help people out, but he was no pushover and he was stubborn as hell. When he wanted something, he always got it and, as far as Roxas could tell, Sora wanted Riku.

"So, how're things going with your ghost?" Naminé asked in a low voice, so no one else could hear.

"I finally got him to form," Roxas murmured back.

"What does he want?" Naminé asked.

"He wants me to find out who murdered him," Roxas groaned. "I don't know how I'm supposed to do that. I only agreed to help because he threatened to follow me around for the rest of my life."

Naminé giggled.

Roxas, in reply, scowled. "I don't find that the least bit funny, thank you."

The car pulled to a stop in front of the biggest school Roxas had ever seen. It was even bigger then Twilight University.

"This place is huge!" Sora gasped. "I'm going to get so lost." Roxas nodded in agreement, both of them twisting around in the seats to look at the school as Riku made his way into the parking lot and began looking for an open space.

"You'll be fine. We'll be here to help you!" Kairi assured them.

"With one small problem, Kai," Riku said as he pulled into a spot. "I'm a senior. You and Naminé are sophomores. Sora and Roxas are juniors. The likeliness of us having any classes together is not very high."

Kairi let out an exasperated sigh. "You're such a killjoy, Riku."

"Can you at least point us in the direction of the office?" Sora asked. "We have to pick up our schedules."

Riku flashed Sora a rare smile. "We can take you to the office. First period doesn't start for another twenty minutes anyway."

Sora looked pleased by this news and they started off in the direction of the school, Roxas and the girls following behind them.

If they'd thought the outside of the school was big, it was nothing compared to the inside. The halls had to be over fifteen feet wide, yet the rush of students was so large it made no difference. There was no room to move unless one was in the middle, following the current. Riku, however, moved through the halls with practiced ease. Many people called out his name and greeted him with huge grins and pats on the back. He appeared to be quite popular. Roxas wondered how a popular senior ended up spending most of his time with two underclassmen girls, but decided it would be rude to ask. Maybe when he knew them better.

Riku stopped in front of a pair of glass double doors and let himself inside. They all followed. _Almost like a heard of sheep following the leader. _Roxas thought dryly.

The first thing Roxas saw when they entered the office was a dark-haired woman standing on a chair, her back to the door. Riku cleared his throat meaningfully. The woman spun around to look at them and a huge smile spread across her face.

"Riku! I haven't seen you in here in forever! I thought you'd forgotten the way!" she exclaimed.

"Hello, Yuffie," Riku greeted. She hopped off her chair and started toward them with a huge grin.

"What can I do for you today, Riku?" she asked, glancing around to see if anyone was watching, before hugging Riku quickly.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Nothing for me. I'm just here to show around the new students…" Riku froze for a long moment, his eyes focused on the desk behind her.

"Riku? What's wrong?" Yuffie asked.

"I…that picture…" Riku muttered. His face went from shocked to angry. "You can't put that up yet! We…we don't know if he's…!"

Yuffie looked sympathetic. "It's been a year, Riku. There's little to no chance that he's still alive. You've got to let him go."

"He's not dead!" Riku snarled, turning on his heel and marching out the door.

"Riku!" Kairi yelled. "I'll go talk to him." She ran out the door after him. Yuffie looked upset.

"What was that all about?" Roxas asked. Yuffie glanced at Naminé for a long moment, but Naminé looked away. She shook her head and continued.

"You see those pictures on the wall?" Roxas looked up at the wall, where pictures of young people resided. All of them appeared to be at or around Roxas' own age.

"Why are they there?" Sora asked.

"Those are the pictures of students who have died while attending our school. Most of them died due to gang violence." Yuffie picked up a picture off of her desk and held it out to them. Sora took the frame from her hands, which Roxas found was probably a good idea as soon as he saw who the picture was of. Axel.

It was a school portrait, probably the last one he had taken. He had that same sarcastic grin slapped across his face and he sat with a lazy grace. He looked completely relaxed, but pillar-strong. It was so strange to see him without the unearthly glow.

"That is Axel. He was Riku's best friend. They were basically inseparable. About a year ago, Axel disappeared in the middle of the night. His family spent three months searching for him, but after that the police basically gave up. Everyone just assumed he was dead. After a year, I have to say I agree. I waited and waited to hang his picture, but now I just think it's a dishonor to his memory."

"I had no idea! That's awful," Sora murmured.

"Riku refuses to believe it because they never found a body. He's adamant in his belief that Axel is still out there somewhere." Yuffie took the picture from Sora and climbed back up on top of the chair. She hung his picture there, among all the dead and gone students and Roxas felt a little sad. Riku clung to the hope that Axel might still be alive, but Roxas knew for sure that his hope would be crushed. Axel was dead. Dead enough for his soul to be stuck in a constant limbo.

"You're the new students, right? Sora and Roxas?" When they nodded, she handed over two pieces of paper.

"We couldn't get you two into any of the same classes, only lunch, because you started too late in the year," she said apologetically.

"That's fine, we'll be okay on our own," Roxas shrugged. Sora nodded in agreement. "I'm gonna go try and find Riku."

"Check under the grand staircase," Naminé advised as he left. He waved a hand over his head to signal that he'd heard her.

Naminé and Roxas left seconds later and Naminé instantly began whispering furiously.

"What was that, Roxas? You looked like you…saw a ghost…"

Roxas stopped and looked at Naminé, whose eyes were growing wider by the second.

"That's the ghost, Naminé. The one that's been following me around and annoying the hell out of me. It's Axel."

"So…he is dead." She looked heartbroken.

"You knew him?" Roxas asked.

Naminé nodded. "We were really close," she murmured.

"Can I…can I talk to him after school today?" she asked quietly. "I've missed him a lot."

Roxas thought about it for a second, and he wasn't sure if Axel would want to see her.

"I don't know, Naminé. You can come over later and I'll ask Axel if he wants to talk."

"Okay. That sounds fair. Thanks, Roxas." She hugged him quickly and set off in the direction of her first class. Roxas watched her go, wondering what he might have gotten Axel into.

--

A/N: Hmmm, so the plot unfolds! What, you might ask, happened to Axel's body? Let me know your guess with that beautiful review button down there. My favorite will be posted in the next author's note. Oh, by the way, the High School will be based off my own "lovely" high school. Rome Free Academy, ah I know thee well. That's exactly why I'm using it, too. Oh, let me make this clear though. WE DON'T HAVE GANG VIOLENCE AT MY SCHOOL. There are no pictures of dead students in our main office. Though we are number four on the most violent list in New York State, that is a bit of a fluke.


	6. Introductions and Interrogations

A/N: Okalie dokalie, I fell pretty bad about not updating in a few days, but I've been damn busy. Forgive me, if you would. My favorite Axel's body theory was given to me by Iaveina and ToastedWhiskers, who both guessed he'd been canabalized. God, I love it.

--

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 6

_Thursday, mid-morning_

_I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. _Roxas was trying his hardest to kill his English teacher through the power of the mind, but it wasn't working. He'd gotten lost while trying to find the classroom, so he'd walked in five minutes late. Despite his protests that he was a new student, she gave him a lunch detention and then proceeded to make him stand at the front of the class and give a five minute oral presentation all about him.

"Go ahead, tell us about you."

_I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!_

"Uh…my name is Roxas. I'm from Twilight Town. I moved here with my parents and my twin, Sora." I see ghosts and one of your dead classmates has taken up residence in my bedroom.

"Oh, so you have a twin? Fraternal or identical?"

"Fraternal, ma'am."

"Brother or sister?"

"Brother."

"Oh, how delightful! What do you want to be after college?"

"I want to be a doctor."

"Have you made any friends yet, Roxas?"

"Um, I guess. These sophomore girls, Naminé and Kairi. And a senior, Riku."

"Where do you live now, Roxas?"

"Um…number 813 wallister drive." Roxas could almost hear the collective gasp from the students.

"Ah. Are you aware of the former owners of the house?" the teacher leaned forward, looking more and more interested.

"You mean the kid who went missing? Yeah, I'm aware. I live in his bedroom," Roxas snarled.

I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!

"Oh," the teacher looked a bit taken aback. "All right, you can sit now, Roxas."

Roxas made his escape to the back of the room, sliding into the only open desk. The desks were all arranged in threes, making an almost triangle so all the students could look each other face to face. One of the boys sitting there had a lazy grin slapped across his face, one that reminded Roxas vaguely of Axel. He had some strange dirty-blonde mullet/Mohawk thing going on. His eyes were big and bright blue and he looked friendly enough. The other one was short, so much so that Roxas could tell while he was sitting down. His hair was a slate color with an emo bang obscuring about half his face. The blonde distantly wondered if he could see through the thick sheaf of hair. His eyes looked serious, but not exactly dangerous, so Roxas figured it was safe.

"Hi!" the blonde greeted as soon as he was seated. "Jeez, I love new kids. Especially from small towns. They always look so lost!"

"Um…thanks?"

"Don't mind him. He's…quite excitable. You'll get used to it," the slate-haired boy sighed. "Dem, take a moment to breathe and then try introducing yourself."

"Sorry, Zexy!" The dirty-blonde grinned cheerfully at Roxas, extending his hand to shake. "I'm Demyx. This is my boyfriend, Zexy."

"Zexion," the other boy corrected.

"Hi, I'm…"

"Roxas," they replied in unison. It was a little creepy.

"Wow, is that how everyone else feels when Sora and I speak at the same time?"

Demyx laughed. "Sorry. Zexy and me have known each other our whole lives. We kinda run on the same wavelengths, ya know?" Roxas nodded. So this was Demyx. This was the one Axel had told him to find.

"So…you really live in Axel's house, huh?" Demyx asked quietly.

"Well, it's our house now, but yeah, I guess." Demyx looked sad, almost like a kicked puppy. Zexion stretched out his hand silently and Demyx took it with a small smile.

"Axel was one of my best friends," he sighed sadly.

"How is it that everyone I've met so far has a connection to Axel?" Roxas mused aloud.

"Well, we've all kind of known each other for years. We all live within two blocks of each other, after all. Zexy and Riku live three houses down from Axel…well, you now. Kairi and Naminé live across the street from them, and I live next door to you," Demyx explained. Roxas took a moment to link this all up in his head.

"Oh. So you and Riku are related?" Roxas asked Zexion.

"He's my older brother."

Roxas fell silent for a while, half listening to Demyx as he continued to speak. They were all connected. Demyx and Riku had been Axel's best friends. Riku was friends with Naminé and Kairi, so they were at least acquaintances. Zexion was Riku's brother and Demyx's boyfriend, connecting him to Axel in two ways. Did anyone of them have something to do with Axel's death? Roxas had felt quite uneasy when he first met Riku. Now he had to wonder, had the uneasiness been Roxas' own feelings, or Axel's?

"What do you know about Axel's disappearance?" Roxas interrupted. Demyx fell silent. Zexion looked pissed.

"How can you just come out of nowhere and ask him that?" he hissed.

"No, no Zexy, it's okay." Demyx trained his eyes on Roxas, looking calculative.

"We don't really know much. The police just gave up eventually, ya know? We know that Riku was the last person who saw Axel. He was a prime suspect for a long time because of that. Eventually, they found evidence against their suspicion, but that's where the investigation ended. The only thing really left of it is a missing person's poster." Demyx's eyes were downcast as he spoke. "I'm pretty sure Axel is dead. He wasn't the type to run away, and he was a fighter. There's no way he'd let himself be kidnapped. He had too much pride. Either way…" Demyx glanced at Zexion, as if he were afraid to say this next part in front of him.

"Go on," Zexion urged, suddenly curious as to what Demyx had to say.

"I think that Riku knows more then he lets on. Whenever someone mentions Axel in front of him he just looks…guilty. I don't think that Riku did anything to Axel," he added quickly as Zexion opened his mouth to protest. "I just…I think he knows something that he's afraid to tell, for any reason. Maybe Axel made him promise or he was threatened. But he knows something."

"Riku would never hold back information that could help find Axel," Zexion hissed, defensive of his brother.

"He might," Roxas murmured quietly. "If someone he loved was being threatened, he might."

The little bit of color in Zexion's face drained out.

"You don't know my brother. Don't presume to know how he reacted to Axel's disappearance," Zexion hissed. He stood, swung his bag over his shoulder, and marched out of the class.

"Zexion!" Demyx called after him. The only response to his call was the door slamming. The entire class had gone silent, all turning to look at the door, and then at Demyx and Roxas.

"What is going on over here?" The teacher exclaimed.

"It's nothing, Miss Gainsborough. Zexion's just a little bit upset at the mention of Axel," Demyx answered. "I'll go check on him." Miss Gainsborough nodded and walked away as Demyx began shoving his books in his bag.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Roxas apologized. "I didn't mean to…"

"Yeah, I know," Demyx answered with a small grin. "Zexy'll be okay, but I'm gonna check on him just in case. I'm not mad and he won't be either." Roxas nodded, feeling a bit of relief that he hadn't ruined things with his potential friends.

Demyx

He would definitely be underneath the stairs in the main lobby. Both he and Riku had a penchant for disappearing there when they were upset. Demyx was about to slip under the stairs when he heard two voices, speaking low. It was Riku and Zexion.

"…hiding something, Riku?" Zexion was asking.

"That's a stupid question, Zexion. Why would I hide something?" Riku asked stiffly.

"I…I don't know. That new kid that lives in Axel's house, he mentioned that you might hide something if you were trying to protect someone you love."

"…"

"Riku?"

"I…it's complicated, Zex. Really complicated."

"Complicated how? Do you know something? What is it?"

"I…don't know anything, Zexion. I don't know anything that I haven't told the police."

"You're lying, Riku! Why? What are you hiding? Who are you trying to protect? Certainly not Axel."

"Shut up, Zexion! I'm not trying to protect anyone!"

"That's obvious. Whatever you know, I'll bet it could find Axel's body for his family. Why won't you tell?"

"Because I can't!"

"So you do know something."

"No. No I don't!"

"That's not what you just said."

"Dammit!" Riku snarled, stalking off across the lobby away from where Demyx was standing. There was a loud clanging sound and a curse as Zexion kicked the underside of the stairs. Demyx slipped underneath, approaching his boyfriend. Zexion sat on the ground, his knees pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around them, his shoulders rigid. He stared at the ground with increasing intensity. It was the typical Zexion 'I'm pissed' pose. Demyx sat behind him and rested his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders. He tensed again, sinking lower in his pose. Demyx let out a small sigh and began kneading his fingers over Zexion's shoulders, giving him a massage. They were silent for a good while, Demyx waiting patiently while Zexion slowly relaxed little by little. By the time he was done, Zexion had moved back, allowing himself to be enveloped in Demyx's arms. He leaned back against Demyx's chest and let out a small sigh.

"You're right, Dem. He is hiding something," he said finally. "What if the police were right with their first guess? What if Riku really did do something to Axel?"

Demyx had never seen Zexion look so uncertain, so unsure before. It was painful and startlingly out of character.

"I don't think Riku would ever willingly hurt Axel," Demyx said. "I think he's having a conflict of loyalties. We just saw the obvious, with you as an example. You sided with Riku instead of me instantly." Zexion made to speak, possibly to apologize, or explain, but Demyx shushed him. "I understand, Zexy, I really do. Riku is your brother. You're bound to have a higher loyalty to your family then a friend, a boyfriend, even. Maybe it's the same with Riku? If Riku had to choose between you and Axel, who do you think he would pick? He would pick you, because you are his little brother."

Zexion fell silent, thinking for a long time. Long enough as to where the period ended and the next started before he spoke again.

"That might be Riku's point of view," he murmured. "But I think I'd rather have him protect Axel then me. I can take care of myself." Demyx let out a laugh.

"Yeah, we all know that." He planted a kiss in Zexion's hair. Zexion shifted in his arms, turning to face Demyx. Demyx caught his boyfriend's lips in a gentle, exploring kiss.

"I love you, Dem," Zexion breathed when they pulled away. Demyx grinned and hugged him tight. "I love you, too, Zexy."

--

A/N: Aw! Zexy and Dem are so damn cute, I can't help but go totally fan girl when I write them. Riku! What is it that you're hiding? The only way to find out is to keep reading and reviewing. How's that for incentive? (I just realized that Axel said that, in like, chapter 3. HA!) Oh, by the way, notice Roxas' address? Haha, 8 and 13! God, I'm clever. XD


	7. Possession

A/N: By God, you people are fantastic. I so love reading all your reviews! They flat out make me grin, dude.

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 7

_Thursday, mid-afternoon_

"Just wait right here, Naminé. I'll go up and talk to him." Roxas left her standing on the staircase between his two doors. He went into his room, closing the door behind him. Axel was lounging on his bed, a cigarette between his fingers. He took a drag and waved his hand at Roxas in greeting.

"How did you get those?" Roxas asked. Axel grinned.

"They were in my pocket when I died. Pretty damn convenient that they crossed with me, I must say. Of course, I only have six to last me forever, so that's kind of annoying." Roxas moved to sit next to him on the bed.

"So, they put up your picture in the office today," Roxas said conversationally.

"Only just today?" Axel asked. "Wow. Dead for two months and they're just getting around to it. I'm a little hurt."

Roxas felt a bit of dread as he remembered his conversation with Yuffie that morning.

"Um…Axel, you've been missing for a year, so I think you've probably been dead that long as well."

Axel frowned. "Why can I only remember two months then?" Roxas shrugged. "I don't know. But…um…I have a mutual friend with me. She…can see ghosts, just like me. She wants to talk to you. Are you okay with that?" Axel looked at Roxas a long moment before shrugging.

"Yeah, sure. Bring her in."

Roxas walked over to the door and opened it. "Come on in."

She looked nervous as she started up the stairs. When she entered the room, Axel looked up and a grin spread across his features.

"Naminé! You bleached you hair!" He exclaimed. He was off the bed in an instant, scooping her up in his arms and spinning her in a wide arc. "Wow, I've missed you! How're Kairi and Reno? And Riku?"

"I've missed you, too, Axel. Kairi and Reno are coping. We all are. Riku…well, not so much."

Axel grimaced, setting Naminé back on her feet. "He refuses to let go, right?"

Naminé nodded sadly. "He's convinced you might still be alive somewhere."

They pulled apart. "Well, as you can see, I'm about as dead as they come." He waved his hand over his slightly glowing body.

Naminé nodded, looking sad. "I guess this really sells it for me. I always hoped…"

Axel waved her words away impatiently. "Whatever. So I'm dead. Not much of a difference, really. I spend all my time in my room with cute boys, and I'm damn sexy. But for the lack of a beating heart, I'd say nothing has really changed." Naminé giggled.

"What do you mean, cute boys?" Roxas growled. "Should I look into buying a new mattress?" Axel laughed so hard he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Don't worry, Roxy. I'm not gonna lie about my not-so-virginal status, but lets just say that I never smexed it up in here. My ma was in and out every five minutes, especially when I had a boy over. She didn't trust me one bit, that woman."

Roxas snorted. "Knowing about your "not-so-virginal" status, are you really surprised?" Why did Roxas feel jealous when he heard about Axel's past excursions into the world of sex? Roxas wasn't even a virgin himself, nowhere near one. He'd had a wild period when he was thirteen, after the incident, and first discovering his sexuality. Maybe the thought that Axel might have actually been in love for his first time, whereas Roxas had just been looking to get it out of the way?

"You two seem to get along well all of a sudden," Naminé remarked.

"Yeah, I don't know why I'm so nice to you," Axel sighed. "After all, you did blatantly ignore me and then you yelled at me, and all before I even had a chance to introduce myself properly."

"If you'd have just appeared to me in the first place…"

"You still would have ignored me."

Roxas was stumped at that one. It was technically true.

"How did you get him to talk to you?" Naminé asked with a small frown. "He was pretty adamant about ignoring you, wasn't he?"

"Oh, that was easy. I kinda wish I'd thought of it sooner, in fact. I just kissed him."

"Don't let him make it sound so innocent, Naminé!" Roxas protested. "He sexually assaulted me in my own bedroom!"

"It was my bedroom first!"

Roxas' bedroom door opened and Sora entered. "Who's been sexually assaulting you? Is he hot?"

"Of course I am. Oh, you poor soul. You never had to fortune to be met with my sexiness, did you?" Naminé burst into giggles.

"Are you all right?" Sora asked with a frown.

"I'm sorry, don't mind me!" Naminé exclaimed, still giggling. Sora shot Roxas a confused look.

"Right. What are you guys doing up here? You're not going straight on me, are you Roxas?"

Roxas was having a bit of trouble focusing on his twin, as Axel was standing directly behind him, pulling faces.

"No, Sora, I'm not going straight. Quite frankly, straight people scare me." Roxas initiated one of their old jokes, hoping it would make Sora relax and stop looking so suspicious. He knew something was going on, but he didn't know what. If there was one thing that annoyed Sora, it was being outside the loop. That was part of the reason Roxas was afraid to tell Sora. He'd be pissed that Roxas kept it a secret for so long. It worked. Sora grinned and shook his head.

"All right, Roxas, I was just wondering if you were arguing with yourself up here. I didn't know Naminé was over. Hi, by the way."

Naminé waved, her giggled having subsided, but ready to burst back full force at any moment if she dared to speak. Sora backed up, right into Axel, who immediately looked disgusted.

"God, that is the weirdest feeling in the world!" he exclaimed at the same time that Sora stopped, frowned and said, "It's freezing in here, Roxas. Are you connected to the central heat up here?"

"I don't know Sora. Maybe it's just that spot. Maybe you should back up…" Before Sora could do as Roxas suggested, however, his face went slack. Axel's figure paled so much that Roxas could only make out a faint outline, towering inches over Sora's head. Roxas suddenly got a really bad feeling.

"Sora?" he questioned.

"Oh shit!" Sora snapped. Roxas jumped in shock, unused to hearing Sora use obscenities in any form. Sora twisted around, looking down at himself from all sides. He raised his hands and looked at them, his blue eyes widening in shock. He reached up one hand and ruffled it through his spikes. Roxas could vaguely see the outline of Axel doing the same thing. He exchanged a quick glance with Naminé, who looked troubled, before turning back to Sora.

"Sora…are you all right?"

"Roxas…I think we have a problem." It was Sora's mouth moving, but Axel's voice speaking. Sora's arms jerked up and shook out a bit, as if trying to shake something off.

"Your brother won't let go of me." Sora began to look seriously freaked out.

"What do you mean, he won't let go?" Roxas demanded.

"I'm stuck, Roxy! I can't step out of him!"

"Where's Sora? What did you do with him?" Roxas demanded angrily.

"He's…he's still here. Wow, Roxas, you're gonna have a lot of explaining to do." Axel's lazy smirk spread across Sora's face.

"Get out of my brother right now!" Roxas snapped.

"I'd love to, Roxy, but for one problem. I CAN'T! I don't even know what's happening! I'm new at this whole 'being dead' thing, okay?"

"Axel, I think you've accidentally possessed Sora," Naminé spoke up.

"I did what?" Sora/Axel snapped, looking a little more scared. Roxas found it hard to stay mad at him, realizing just how much this was freaking him out.

"I think you possessed him. We just need to figure out how to get you to…stop possessing him.

"Well, when you come up with an idea, by all means, let me know," Sora/Axel muttered, dropping on to Roxas' bed.

"Don't be so negative, Axel, we'll need your help too," Naminé sighed patiently. "You're the only one of us who actually has the ability to possess someone, so we need the small bit of information you can give us."

"Like what, Nami? I don't even know how this happened!" Axel protested.

"Well, what were you thinking about when you joined together?" Naminé asked.

"How freakin' skeevy it was to have someone standing inside of me."

Naminé sighed in exasperation. "Anything else?"

"Well, I was thinking about Roxy…and Riku. I was wondering if I was really okay with being dead and thinking what I'd do with a chance to be alive."

"That must be it!" Naminé exclaimed. "You wanted to feel alive again when you were connected with Sora and you accidentally possessed him."

"So how am I supposed to get out? I stop wanting to be alive again? Because that's not gonna happen, sister."

"I don't know. Roxas…could you try…finding Sora and pulling him out?" she asked. Roxas cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "What do you mean, find him and pull him out?"

"Use you twin connection. I know Kairi and I always seem to know where the other one is, so maybe it will work with you and Sora?"

"I guess I could try…although Sora and I never really had that type of connection. We can almost…read each other's minds, I guess is the best way to put it. Not literally, more like we always know what the other is thinking, what we'll do before we do it."

"Try using that to talk to Sora," she urged. Roxas momentarily wondered why Naminé seemed so comfortable in this very strange situation. Maybe it was because she'd been dealing with the ghosts, while Roxas had been hiding.

"I can try," he sighed. "Give me your…Sora's…hand," Roxas instructed, holding his own hand out. Sora/Axel placed his hand in Roxas' own.

Roxas thought about Sora and instantly

the strange flashes began filling his mind. He'd never experienced flashes so vivid before. Except, this wasn't Sora's mind. If Roxas knew anything about his twin, it was his mind. He saw a much younger Riku with a small grin spread across his face, leaning in for a kiss. At this vision, some annoyance built up inside him, for he knew that it was Axel he was leaning in to kiss. Of course, it was probably Sora's stab of jealousy, not Roxas'.

Another flash. He saw Demyx, his arm slung around Zexion's shoulder, laughing about something. Another flash. A tall, silver haired man was glaring angrily at him, yelling. He felt a flash of fear, this one definitely Axel's. Another flash. It was dark, and he was running, scared out of his mind. He was yelling something, something unintelligible. Something hard struck him across the back of the head and the world was black. Another flash. He couldn't breath. His chest was pained with the effort. There were hands at his neck and the cold water was all around him. He couldn't get up. In a panic, he screamed. Water sloshed in his mouth and down his throat, faster then he could spit it out. He was choking and struggling and involuntarily breathing in, more and more water filling his lungs. Break through. A large flash and he was standing in a room, body left completely behind. The room was pure white with drawings all over the walls. Roxas gasped for air, coughing and hacking. It took him a few minutes to calm down enough to think.

"Scary as all hell, isn't it?" a grim voice asked. Roxas looked up to see Axel, minus the unearthly glow, leaning against the wall next to the corner.

"I can't believe you lived through that," Roxas choked. Axel let out a depressing dark laugh. "I didn't."

"What is going on? Roxas, what are you doing here?" Roxas spun around to come face-to-face with his twin.

"Sora! Are you okay?"

Sora looked at Roxas, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's happening, Roxas? Have I been drugged?"

"Um…not exactly," Roxas sighed.

"Isn't that the dead guy? The one Riku's torn up about?" Sora asked.

"Axel. Got it memorized?"

Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Listen Sora, I'll answer your questions, but not right now. Right now we've got to get out of here, all right?" Sora nodded, his blue eyes suddenly wide. "Okay, Roxas."

"I think that I should probably pull you out, Axel, as this is Sora's body," Roxas said thoughtfully. "If I pull Sora out, I think it will leave you in his body."

Axel shrugged. "Whatever, Roxy."

"You promise to explain?" Sora called as they approached the door.

Roxas nodded. "I promise." He took a hold of Axel's hand and yanked him through the door on the far side of the room. The memories flashed by again, this time so fast it was impossible to distinguish them. Roxas found himself standing in his own body, his fingers twined through Axel's slightly glowing digits. He turned to look at Sora, nervous. Sora blinked for a moment, dazed. Then, he turned to look at Roxas. His eyes trailed down to their joined hands, obviously wondering why Roxas was clutching the air in such a strange fashion. The blonde dropped the redhead's hand and took a step away from him.

"Okay," Sora demanded, his lower lip jutting out in a slight pout. "Explain."

--

A/N: There's a bit of a hint as to one of the secrets of the story in there. I'll give you a hint. Read chapter three closely, and then this one. If you figure it out, I'll PM you the next chapter early! Ready? Set? GO!


	8. Telling Sora

A/N: Yeah...so no one guessed what I was getting at. I honestly didn't expect them to...because the hint was admittedly quite obscure. I love reading y'alls reviews though, because they really brighten up my day. God knows I need some uplifting today. I fell off the treadmill in the weightroom at school today and jacked up my knee (then proceeded to walk to the library on said aching knee to update), and it really, really hurts.

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 8

Thursday, mid-afternoon

Roxas let out an exasperated sigh at the demand. He would tell Sora, of course he would…but he'd just exhausted himself, all in order to save him. Granted, he wouldn't have been in the position in the first place if not for Roxas, but he could give him just a few moments, couldn't he?

"Oh…well…I guess. You can't let me catch my breath?" Roxas pleaded.

Sora shook his head stubbornly. "Nope. Tell me now."

"Oh, fine. Well…first let me start by telling you that this has been happening to me for years…and I'm not crazy." Sora nodded, his eyes narrow.

"I…I can see ghosts." Roxas continued to speak quickly even though he could see Sora wanted to interrupt. "I always have, remember when our parents sent me to see a councilor when I was a kid? Well, he explained everything to me. I'm supposed to help out the dead, but I don't…at least, I didn't…"

"Why not?" Sora demanded.

"I was worried about you guys. Remember the car when we were twelve? That was an angry ghost. And…the incident…that was my fault," he gasped quietly. "It was a ghost that was pissed at me. I vowed I'd never speak to another ghost."

"And now?" Sora demanded.

"Axel has been following me around since we got here. His spirit was drawn back here because this is where he used to live. I'm helping him because he was…rather persistent."

Sora nodded slowly, taking it all in.

"I don't really…know what to say, Roxas," Sora sighed. He looked at Naminé suspiciously. "Did you know?" he demanded.

She nodded weakly.

"What the hell!" Sora exclaimed. "She knew before I did? I'm your twin!"

"I know, Sora, and I'm sorry! I was scared of the way you'd react, and Naminé sees them too! That's why I told her first, the only reason, I swear!"

"How could you think so little of me, Roxas? Do you really think I'd turn on you because you have a weird personality quirk?"

"Sora, I think seeing ghosts is a little more then a weird personality quirk. And…I didn't want you to blame me…for what happened. I couldn't take it, Sora." Sora shook his head stubbornly. "You're my brother, Roxas! You should have known better! I don't blame you for that! How could it possibly be your fault?"

Roxas sighed. "Yeah, Sora. I'm beginning to see that now."

"So…how exactly does this work?" Sora asked quietly.

"Well, I'm not really sure. It was explained to me that there are two planes. One is the spirit plane and the other is ours. Usually, living people live on our plane and the dead ones stay on the spirit plane. But there are some people, people like me and Naminé, that exist equally on both planes. There's no difference between the two for us." Sora nodded thoughtfully.

"Why can you see ghosts and I don't?" he asked.

"I don't know," Roxas sighed.

"No one really knows," Naminé spoke up. "But there is a theory. I have been studying this for a long time. There are only about three hundred documented people who have seen ghosts, though there are probably a lot more. The strange thing is, all the people with the skill have been from a set of twins, but only one twin has the ability." Roxas was amazed. He didn't know it was possible to research this stuff, yet Naminé sounded as if she'd swallowed a library.

"The most common theory is that attached to the twin gene, is a recessive gene for the Sight. During the meiotic cell division, this recessive gene creates it's own chromosome. When it comes the time for the cell to split, or in the case of fraternal twins, an egg bearing the specific gene is fertilized; the embryo with said gene develops the Sight. A scientist, Dr. Vexen, once tested the body cells of ten individuals with the Sight and every single one of them had forty-seven chromosomes instead of forty-six."

Sora's eyes had gone wide at Naminé's scientific explanation, and Roxas was pretty sure if they hadn't just covered cell division in Bio before he left Twilight Town (Sora slept through Bio religiously), he wouldn't have been able to follow at all.

Axel looked impressed.

"Wow, I didn't know Nami was that smart. You have any trouble keeping up with that, Roxy?" he grinned arrogantly.

"Shut up, Axel. I followed it just fine," Roxas retorted, making Axel laugh.

"Um…can you explain that in English?" Sora asked.

"Roxas!" they all jumped at the sound of Roxas' mother's voice. Roxas ran to the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, ma?" he called.

"Come down here! I need to talk to you about something!"

"One second, ma!" He trotted back up the stairs to his room.

"Naminé, can you sort this into laymen's terms for Sora while I go take care of my mom?"

"Of course, Roxas."

"Thanks."

Sora let out a pouty huff of breath. "Don't think this gets you off, Roxas. We're going to have a really long talk later."

Roxas waved his hand to signal that he'd heard as he trudged down the stairs.

His mom was sitting at the kitchen table, looking excited as he entered the room.

"What's going on, ma?" he asked, feeling slightly suspicious. The last time she'd had that look on her face, he'd been fifteen, firmly in the closet (at least to his mother), and she'd set him up on a blind date with the daughter of a coworker. The girl had had all the personality of a piece of cardboard.

"Don't look so nervous, Roxas. You'll like this, I think. Sit," Roxas obediently sat in his usually spot at the table.

His mother reminded him slightly of a poodle as he looked at her. She was quite small and trembling with excitement. He was sure, if she had a tail, it would be wagging so hard her entire lower half would move. "You still want to be a doctor, don't you Roxas?"

"Yes, mom. I've wanted to be a doctor since I was six. The dream hasn't changed."

"Good, good. Now Roxas, I know you don't like it when I sign you up for things without your permission, but…"

"Oh god mom, what did you do?" Roxas moaned at the same time his mom exclaimed, "I got you an internship at the hospital in the next town over!"

It took a few seconds for it to sink in, then Roxas grinned. His mother looked at him hopefully.

"Have I done good?" she asked.

"Seriously? You got me an internship?" he asked, stunned. She nodded slowly, trying not to look too triumphant in case he exploded.

"Mom, that's so great! What am I doing?" he asked, excited.

"Well, I couldn't get you anything too technical because you haven't had any thorough schooling, but you'll be a candy striper."

Roxas didn't even care that he was basically going to be a nurse's assistant. He'd get to work in a hospital. He'd get to see the things he'd dreamed of doing up close and personal. An opportunity like this wouldn't have come in Twilight Town.

"Why the next town over?" he asked.

"I checked the hospitals in Hollow Bastion and all of them are full up. But this town is fairly close. Close enough as to where you can take the subway."

"Wow! Thanks mom!" Roxas said excitedly. He paused for a moment, letting his mother bask in the glow of her accomplishment before saying, "But don't do it again. Ask me before you sign me up for stuff."

"Of course, Roxas. I just want you to like it here. To see how wonderful the opportunity can be."

"Yeah, sure mom."

"Roxas!" Sora yelled from the top of the stairs. "You have your own BATHROOM? That is so UNFAIR!" Apparently Sora had done some snooping. Or Axel had betrayed his "secret".

"What does he mean?" his mother asked, frowning.

"There's a collapsible wall in my room with a bathroom behind it," Roxas shrugged. "I thought you knew." His mother shook her head and shrugged.

"Well, it seems you've won the bedroom lottery. Go reign some control over your brother. The hospital gig starts on Sunday." Roxas nodded and started up the stairs. For once, his mother had gone and done something with his best interest at heart that he would also enjoy doing. Maybe Hollow Bastian was good for her. With the way that Roxas had redeveloped a slight connection with his natural being, found someone to confide in, and told Sora his lifelong secret, maybe Hollow Bastion was good for Roxas too.

--

A/N: Yes, yes, it's short. I know. Don't shoot me. But ya know what? I'm still sorta satisfied with it because I got to sound all scientific and smart and you basically figure some stuff out about Roxas' "gift". Well, let me know what ya think.


	9. Next of Kin

A/N: YES! Two chapters today, because I feel like eight sort of...lacks flair, maybe? This one is basically filler, so I don't feel too guilty about rushing things along a bit...

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome). Song lyrics (Roxas' ring tone) belong to The Used.

Chapter 9

_Friday, mid-morning_

"Hey…are you alive? Helloooooo…Roxas?"

Roxas let out a heartfelt moan as he felt a slight tug at one of his messy spikes. He'd been up really late last night recounting practically every ghost moment he had ever had to Sora. It had been three in the morning when Sora finally went to bed, and he had looked pretty damn chipper that morning, annoyingly so.

"Oh good, you are alive. How was your day yesterday?" Roxas lifted his head to look at Demyx, who had sat himself across from the blonde. He winced when Roxas looked at him.

"Damn, did you get any sleep?" he asked. When Roxas shook his head dully, a wicked grin crossed his features. "Is there a specific reason you didn't get any sleep?" he asked, the alternate meaning clear in his tone. Roxas, nowhere near in the mood, just glared and muttered, "Sora."

"Ooh, Sora, huh…?"

"Sora is his brother, Demyx," Zexion interjected. Roxas nearly jumped at the sudden sound of the slate-haired boy's voice. He hadn't realized Zexion was there.

"Oh," Demyx still didn't seem to put out. "Well, that's good. I wouldn't want to have to break the news to Marly."

"Um…who is Marly and why would…he? She?…care?" Roxas asked. Demyx laughed and even Zexion cracked a small smile.

"Marly. It's short for Marluxia, who is a guy. He'd care because he called me late last night, gushing about the cute new twins." Demyx grinned and switched to a falsetto, "'Especially that little blonde one, he was a cutie!'." Roxas blushed, staring at the desktop.

"All right, class! Let's get ready for today's lesson!" Miss Gainsborough called out. "Take out Hamlet and open to Act III!" Roxas was happy to escape the conversation, practically diving head first into his bag to grab his book, avoiding Demyx's gaze throughout the rest of the class.

_Friday, early afternoon_

"Roxas! Over here!" Roxas looked around at the sound of his name to see Sora standing on his chair, waving his arms about like he was trying to land a plane.

"I'm not quite sure I can see you, Sora!" Roxas called. "Maybe you should stand on the table instead." Sora stuck his tongue out petulantly and sat on his chair.

In all honesty, Roxas was glad he'd done it. The school was so big, with so many students, there were two cafeterias. They connected at one end with a glass wall and three doors spaces out along it. One end of the larger cafeteria had three steps leading up to a platform with lunch tables, where Sora was sitting.

Roxas started in the direction of Sora's chair, only to walk face first into some black cloth, barely managing to keep from spilling his lunch all over the person who obstructed his path.

"Sorry. Excuse me," Roxas murmured, making to step around. Much to his dismay, the person stepped in his path again. Roxas leaned his head back slightly to look the person in the face, a bit pissed off. He stood there stupidly in a moment of complete shock.

The guy who stood there was tall (though it wasn't saying much in comparison to Roxas, who barely broke 5'8") and quite muscular. That wasn't all that shocking. The shocking part was that this guy, who was dressed from head to toe in various shades of black, had pale pink hair that hung to his shoulders. What was it with people in this city and weird hair?

Roxas gained back his ability to speak and snapped, "Look, I said I was sorry, so will you move?"

"No, no, I think you misunderstand me," the guy laughed. "I blocked your path on purpose, so if any should apologize it is me. I wanted to talk to you and I figured a straightforward approach would be best. My name is Marluxia."

"Oh!" Roxas said before he could stop himself. Demyx had been talking about him this morning, hadn't he? "I'm Roxas," he said belatedly.

"I know who you are," Marluxia said with a grin. "Look, I'm not one to beat around the bush. You wanna go out with me tonight?" he asked.

"You mean, like a date?" Roxas asked stupidly.

"Well, yeah, like a date," Marluxia laughed. His eyes widened at Roxas' shocked expression. "Unless you're not gay…"

"No, no," Roxas said quickly. "No, I'm gay. That was just…unexpected." He glanced over at Sora, who was watching him with an interested grin. "You know what? Yeah, sure, I'm free tonight."

Marluxia grinned. "Great. I'll pick you up about 7, okay?"

"Sounds good, I live at…"

"I know, Axel's place, right?"

"Uh…yeah, I guess."

"See ya at seven, cutie." Marluxia chucked him under the chin and walked away. Roxas made his way to Sora and slid onto the bench next to him. Riku sat on his other side, Naminé and Kairi across the table from them. A few seconds later, Demyx and Zexion joined them, the former wearing a satisfied grin.

"So, what was that all about?" Sora asked with a mischievous grin.

"I have a date tonight," Roxas answered, unable to keep a small smile from spreading across his face.

"With Pinky?" Sora asked with a grin.

"His name is Marluxia, and yes," Roxas answered.

"Ooh, I'm excited! Who knew little brother would get some so early on! I'm jealous, no one's asked me out yet, and I'm the cuter twin," Sora pouted. "Well, my dear brother, unfortunately for you, I'm going to have to live through you tonight." Roxas was about to retort to the 'little brother' comment when there was a shout from across the cafeteria.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Roxas and Sora both whipped around to look, Roxas noticing that no one else seemed to react much to this outburst.

"DON'T YOU INSULT MY MOTHER!"

Two blonde boys stood in each other's faces, arguing back and forth. One was taller then the other, wearing a vest and the other wore camo pants, but they both looked severely pissed off.

"I'LL INSULT HER ALL I WANT. SHE MUST'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG TO BE CURSED WITH SOMETHING LIKE YOU!"

"Um…shouldn't someone do something?" Sora asked nervously. Even the security guards hadn't tried to break up the fight, or even bothered to look.

"Don't worry about it," Demyx waved a hand through the air and rolled his eyes. "That's just Seifer and Hayner. They do this every couple days. They get in some stupid argument and brawl it out in very loud voices and then they make up and everything goes back to normal, until it starts again a few days later. You get used to it."

Sora and Roxas exchanged a look that clearly said, "What kind of mad house is this?"

"SAY IT AGAIN, I FUCKIN' DARE YOU!"

Riku laughed, catching the expression. "Seriously, watch." The two were so close to each other now, they were literally inches apart, screaming in each other's faces.

"Three, two, one," everyone at the table intoned together. At the count of one, the taller boy threw his arms around the shorter, pulling him flush against his body and kissing him deeply. The other reacted instantly, looping his arms around the other just as tightly. They maneuvered their way through the cafeteria expertly, especially considering they didn't take the time to disconnect and look where they were going. They pushed their way through the doors and disappeared as they swung shut again.

"Don't go into the guys' room outside the cafeteria for the next hour," Demyx advised cheerfully. Riku laughed at the stunned expression on the twins' faces.

"Are you sure you guys are fraternal?" Kairi asked with a small frown.

"Yes," the sighed in the same breath. "No one ever believes us because we look so much alike, though."

Kairi grinned and then laughed. "Nami bleached her hair and I cut mine shorter so people could tell us apart. You have no idea how many years we were KairiorNaminé. Only Riku, Axel, and Reno could ever tell us apart. Not even our mom could, if we didn't want her to."

"Who is Reno?" Sora asked, always excited by the prospect of new people.

"Reno is our older brother," Naminé answered, barely looking up from the sketchpad she was concentrating on. "He graduated last year and now he's a corrections officer."

"…Take a walk with me, walk with the dead. It's weird that we have to die sometime…"

Roxas jumped as his cell phone went off in his pocket. He'd forgotten to turn it off, so it was a good thing that it had been lunchtime before he'd gotten a call. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, frowning at the change of ring tone. He hadn't done it, that was for sure.

"Hello?" he asked, ducking his head a bit to the side so his phone wasn't painfully visible.

"Roxy, I think I found something important."

"Ax-Alex?" Roxas corrected himself quickly. Sora looked up, his eyes questioning, but he didn't say anything. "Why are you calling me at school? It couldn't have waited until I got home?"

"Listen, Roxy. I was snooping around your room…"

"Oh, that's great. Find anything interesting?" Roxas snapped sarcastically.

"Yes! That's what I'm trying to tell you. I found this loose floorboard next to the bed on accident, and in it were these pictures and some other stuff and I think I hid them there. I think they might help."

Roxas paused for a moment before saying, "And why didn't you remember about this before?"

When Axel spoke, he sounded uncomfortable. "I don't know, Roxy. I just…completely forgot. I've been forgetting things lately. I don't remember what my parents look like, you know."

Roxas felt bad instantly.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Listen, I'll check it out when I get home, but you can't call me while I'm at school."

"Right, sorry, I just got kinda excited. I'll see ya later, Roxy."

"Hey, wait. Did you change my ringtone?" he accused.

Axel laughed. "Did ya like it? I thought it sorta fit our lovely little situation.

"Don't touch my phone, dammit."

Axel just laughed again. "Bye Roxy."

"Bye, Axel." Roxas hung up the phone, turned it off, and shoved it in his pocket.

When he looked up, Riku was glaring at him.

"What?" Roxas asked, leaning back a bit.

"What did you just say?" he growled.

Oh! Roxas had accidentally said 'Axel'. "Bye Alex?" he said, feigning confusion.

"No," Riku shook his head. "No, you said 'bye Axel'," he growled.

"No he didn't!" Sora said quickly. "He said Alex, I heard him."

"He did, Riku," Naminé backed them up. Kairi looked suspicious, but nodded in agreement. Riku's anger deflated. He sighed and shook his head.

"God, I think I'm losing my mind," he murmured, pushing himself up from the table and walking away.

Demyx, who had been busy with Zexion through the whole ordeal, looked over to them.

"Hey, where's Riku going?" he asked.

"I think he needed some time to think to himself. He's having a hard time coping with someone moving into our old house, ya know?" Kairi sighed.

"Yeah, I could see it," Demyx sighed. "Should we go talk to him?"

Zexion shook his head 'no'. "Let him be alone with his thoughts for a while."

"Wait, did you say 'our' old house?" Sora demanded.

"Oh!" Kairi gasped, covering her mouth and glancing at Naminé apologetically.

Naminé, in turn, sighed and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Might as well tell them now," Demyx shrugged.

"Tell us what?" Roxas demanded.

The four exchanged glanced, and then Kairi started to speak. "We didn't want to tell you, because you were the first people who haven't looked at us all sad in a year. We wanted it to stay that way, and not telling you seemed to be the best way to do it," she said.

"Yes, we used to live in your house. We moved out and down the street because we didn't want to leave the neighborhood. The memories were just too painful. Every inch of the house held a memory." Naminé said quietly. "You see, Axel is our older brother."

--

Haha! Remember in Chapter 7, when I challenged you at the end to find out what the hidden secret was? That was it. You see, Naminé said in chapter three that only family could call her Nami. In chapter 7, Axel called her Nami, and about a paragraph and a half later he called her sister. Told you it was obscure. I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. If you review, you can have one.


	10. Instant Messaging

A/N: You know how much I love you people? I have a gigundo review packet on the cold war at home, waiting for me to answer somewhere around fifty questions, and my AP global history exam is in...21 days. Instead of studying like a good AP student...I'm sitting here, doing this for you. Just hope that I finish posting this before the 21 day period or you'll never see the end. My teacher will have eaten my face off due to me failing both my AP and regents exams...yes. I have two history exams to take this year. Gag me with a spoon.

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 10

_Friday, early evening_

After school, Roxas and Sora went out with the gang to explore the new city, shop, and get some food. It was five thirty by the time they walked through the front door of their house. Roxas was greeted by the sight of Axel lounging on his bed when he entered his room, Sora in tow.

"Hi, Roxy. Did you know that you have absolutely nothing to do in this house?" he asked. "I've been all over the place today, trying to find something to do, and nothing!"

Roxas sighed. "Axel, you can't just snoop through everyone's stuff. There's this amazing thing called privacy and people quite enjoying having that."

"There's no privacy in a house with a ghost!" Axel laughed.

"Why didn't you tell me Naminé and Kairi were your sisters?" Roxas asked exhaustedly.

Axel frowned and shrugged. "You didn't ask. Besides, I figured they'd already told you."

"Yeah, well, they didn't," Roxas muttered darkly.

"This is weird," Sora muttered. "You sound like you're talking to yourself."

Roxas kicked his shoes off and pushed them to the side with one foot. He slid his bag off his shoulder, tossing it on the bed next to Axel.

"So what's this about important stuff that you found?" he asked tiredly.

"Um…are you talking to me or him?" Sora asked.

"Him," Roxas replied as Axel handed him a stack of papers.

"Holy hell!" Sora gasped, staring at the papers, which to him appeared to be floating.

"Wait, I don't get it. If he's a ghost, how can he hold stuff?"

"Axel?" Roxas asked, suddenly curious as well. He'd never actually thought about questioning it before.

As Axel spoke, Roxas repeated his words for Sora to hear. "I have to concentrate really hard. I have to imagine that I'm solid enough to lift what I want. I can't really lift anything too heavy. I can't touch the living. That's too hard. I can make my presence known, though."

Sora looked thoughtful for a minute before he grinned. "Okay! This is really weird! I'm a bit freaked out. I'm going to my room." With that, he turned on his heel and made his way downstairs. Roxas let out a dull laugh and sifted through the papers for a minute. A lot of it was written in a messy scrawl and there was a small folder with a few pictures in it. His eyes ached just looking at it. He straightened the papers and set them on his desk.

"Hey, can we look through this stuff tomorrow? Right now I need to get some sleep. I'm so tired my eyes are burning." Axel cocked his head to the side, his eyes sweeping over Roxas' frame.

"Yeah, sure. No problem," he agreed.

"Move over," Roxas grumbled gratefully. At least he wasn't so pushy as to force him into working. Axel slid over and Roxas collapsed on the bed. He buried half his face in the pillow and he felt a blanket fall over him.

"Thanks," he murmured, snuggling into his pillow and promptly falling asleep.

Friday, evening

"Roxas! Roxas, what are you doing? Get up!"

Roxas groaned and burrowed his head underneath the pillow.

"Roxas! You have to get up! It's 6:45!" Roxas' tired mind wondered why this was important for a long moment, and then he remembered. Marluxia! He had a date tonight! In fifteen minutes, no less! He shot up from where he sat and glanced over at his twin.

"What do I do? I have no time!" he said in a panic. Sora went instantly into savior mode.

"You go take a shower, I'll get everything else ready for you!" Sora declared.

"Thank you so much!" Roxas gasped, flying up the stairs and into the shower. He showered quickly and jumped out, brushing his teeth and blow-drying his hair at the same time.

"6:55!" Sora called up the stairs. Roxas rushed back down, a towel slung around his waist.

"Your clothes are on the bed!" Sora yelled as he made his way down stairs.

"You're the best!" Roxas called after him, pulling on the clothes quickly. He turned to study himself in the mirror.

Sora had fit him with a pair of his own jeans, moderately tight and soft, very comfortable. He also wore a blue long-sleeved suede shirt opened over a black beater. He slid on his shoes and slid a simple silver chain over his head. Once again, he was amazed by Sora's ability. It was perfect, adaptable. He didn't know what Marluxia had planned, so he was dressed casually, but if it was something a bit more upscale-which Roxas seriously doubted, considering it was the first date-all he had to do was button up the shirt and he was presentable.

The doorbell rang just as Roxas spotted a bottle of Axe on his desk with a note that read, "Use it!" in Sora's handwriting. Roxas sprayed himself with it quickly, being sure not to overdo it. He slid his wallet in his back pocket and his cell phone in his front and started downstairs.

"Hey, Roxy…where are you going?" Axel had returned from…wherever it was that he went when he disappeared.

"Oh, I have a date tonight," Roxas said with a grin. Axel's eyes widened. "Really? With who?" he asked.

"His name is Marluxia…"

"Marly? No way!" Axel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, have fun, I guess." Did Axel sound a bit jealous, maybe? Why did that thought give Roxas a bit of a thrill? Roxas shook his head at the notion.

"See ya later," he gave a quick wave and made his way down the stairs. Marluxia was talking with Sora in the entrance hall. He didn't look too dressed up, which was a relief for Roxas. He wore a tight black t-shirt that showed every one of his muscles and a pair of blue jeans that made his ass look spectacular.

"Hey," Roxas greeted. Marluxia turned and looked him up and down unabashedly.

He let out a low whistle. "Damn, you look hot."

"Not too bad yourself," Roxas replied with a small smirk.

"Well!" Sora exclaimed. "I will see you later, Roxas. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Marluxia, have him home by one. We do have a curfew around here," Sora sang teasingly.

"Of course," Marluxia answered as Roxas groaned, "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, son! Have fun!" He practically pushed them out the door.

"So…that's my twin," Roxas sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Is he always that…erm…exuberant?" Marluxia asked with a small grin.

"Always," Roxas nodded. They reached Marluxia's car, a silver BMW.

"Damn, is this yours?" Roxas breathed.

Marluxia laughed at Roxas' expression. "Man, don't I wish. No, this baby is my dad's. I convinced him to let me borrow her for my hot date tonight."

"Hot date, huh?" Roxas teased. "Should I be jealous?"

Marluxia laughed and started up the car. "No, I think you'll be okay. I don't know about me, though. With the way he's looking right now, I'll probably have to be attached at the hip to keep him from being stolen from me." Roxas blushed and laughed at the same time as Marluxia took off into the night, the engine purring beautifully under the hood.

_Axel, evening, approximately 7:20_

He paced back and forth in front of Sora's door, unsure whether it was wise to do this or not. What did it matter, really? Roxas was allowed to date. Sure, Axel wanted him, but he didn't have any claim over him, and he was dead anyway. He just needed to finish whatever needed finishing and get the hell out of there. Axel shook his head and made his way back to his-Roxas'-room. He spied the laptop sitting open on his desk, the AIM screen open the same way it had been since the day before. An idea suddenly dawned on him, a way to voice his concern to Sora. He thought about using his old screen name and then realized that a lot of people probably still had it on their buddy lists. It wouldn't be good for his name to suddenly pop up. Instead, he created a new name and clicked Sora's screen name. It was easy to find, because it was in its own category, called '!!TWIN!!'. He began to type, almost giving himself a headache with how hard he had to concentrate to constantly hit the keys.

TheGhostintheTower: This is Sora, right?

There was a moment of hesitation on Sora's part before another message popped up.

XKingdomXKeyX: …Is this really the ghost in the tower?

TheGhostintheTower: The one and only.

XKingdomXKeyX: Okay, I'm going to pretend it isn't weird that the dead are contacting me through AIM. What's up?

TheGhostintheTower: I'm worried about Roxas.

XKingdomXKeyX: Why? Jealous? ;)

TheGhostintheTower: No! What's there to be jealous about? Your brother is merely helping me finish my business.

XKingdomXKeyX: Okay, sure. Then what has you so worried?

TheGhostintheTower: The guy he's with. Marluxia's a nice guy and all, but he's…kind of a player. And he has a track record of dating people like Roxas for a few weeks and then dropping them for the newest piece of tail that happens to walk by.

XKingdomXKeyX: What do you mean, people like Roxas?

Axel stared at the screen, trying to figure out how to phrase it without insulting the brunet. Apparently he waited too long, because Sora sent another message.

XKingdomXKeyX: Hello? Still there, Axel?

TheGhostintheTower: Yeah, sorry. When I say people like Roxas, I mean small body type, insanely cute, uke written all over him…

XKingdomXKeyX: Oh! Okay. Do you think I should be worried?

TheGhostintheTower: I don't really know. Just…try not to let him get too serious, okay? I don't want him to get hurt.

XKingdomXKeyX: Because you care! D

TheGhostintheTower: Because I need his help to figure out who killed me.

XKingdomXKeyX: Oh.

TheGhostintheTower: Just watch out for him, Sora. I'll be around, but its not really my business.

XKingdomXKeyX: Hey, Axel?

TheGhostintheTower: Yeah?

XKingdomXKeyX: I'm sorry…that you died, I mean.

TheGhostintheTower: Me too, kid. Me too.

The doorbell rang downstairs and Sora signed off quickly. He heard Sora's door open and then him trotting down the stairs. Axel signed off as well and closed the laptop. Now, more then ever, he wished he was able to sleep. He wanted to escape his thoughts, but that just didn't seem very likely right now. Roxas was on a date. Okay. He could deal with that…

No he couldn't, dammit. He wanted Roxas in the worst way. He'd never been so immediately attracted to someone before. It wasn't just because Roxas was the only guy who could see him. Axel was sure that-if he was still alive-he'd have reacted to Roxas in the same way. But that was the problem, wasn't it? He was dead. Roxas was alive. Axel would just have to deal with it.

--

Poor Axel, what with his dead sexual frustration and all that jazz. And what's with Marluxia, hmm? We shall find out in the next chapter! marches off into the sunset Oh shit! runs back I'd really gasp love it if gasp you'd review.


	11. The Incident

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

_Chapter 11_

Friday, late evening

Attached at the hip indeed. Marluxia's hands had hardly left his hips since they started their dance.

Marluxia had taken them out to get something to eat at this little diner called the Franklin Hotel. It was really good, Italian cuisine, with low prices and a bigger meal then Roxas could have eaten in a week. There had been interesting conversation. Roxas had found out why Marluxia had pink hair.

Apparently he had lost a bet with a man named Luxord in Freshman year and he had to dye his hair pink for the remainder of his high school career. He would be allowed to return to blonde the day after he graduated.

Marluxia-after much coaxing on Roxas' part-had agreed to go Dutch and split the bill. He had then driven them to this club, where they had spent the last three hours dancing.

"Damn, where did you learn to move like this?" Marluxia hissed in his ear as Roxas ground back against him and swayed their hips together.

"Around," was his only reply before Marluxia, obviously unable take his teasing anymore, whipped him around and captured his mouth in a hot, scouring kiss. Roxas reacted instantly, his hands coming up to tangle in his hair, allowing Marluxia's probing tongue to enter his mouth. The kiss was harsh and needy, something Roxas had felt many, many times before. It made his heart sink a bit. He didn't want to go down this road again. He was about to pull away, but Marluxia did first. He rested his lips against Roxas' ear and muttered, "Hey. Wanna get out of here? Go somewhere a bit more…private?" Roxas pulled away from him.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he muttered. Of course, it just had to be like that, didn't it? Did something about Roxas just scream "I'M A WHORE!" or what? Marluxia didn't even bother to try and stop him as he rushed out of the club and into the street. He looked around, aware that he was in a part of town he didn't recognize at all. He was too worried about getting lost to rush off in a heat of his own anger. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

"Hello?" Naminé sounded like she was still awake, which was good considering it was almost midnight. He hadn't thought about it until the phone rang three times.

"Hi, Naminé. It's Roxas. Look, I'm sorry for calling so late, but I don't have a ride home and I'm not confident enough in my knowledge of the city to walk."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"Oh, all right." Naminé paused again for a moment before saying, "I don't even have a permit yet, Roxas. I can't drive."

That was right Naminé was only a sophomore. He'd forgotten about that.

"Oh. Well, shit. Sorry to bother you," he sighed.

"No, wait. I can ask Reno to pick you up. I'm sure he wouldn't mind…"

"Oh, um…no I don't think…"

"It'll be fine. Where are you?"

He gave her the name of the club and stood around to wait. It was nearly twenty minutes before a black jeep pulled up in the parking lot. The door opened and Naminé popped out.

"Hi Roxas!" she called. He made his way over to the car and climbed in the back seat. The driver was looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

"Hi. Thanks for the ride, I'm sorry about this."

"Ah, whatever kid. It's no problem. Not like I had anything better to do, what with my boyfriend up and skipping town at the very last damn minute." He grumbled this last part and Roxas was fairly sure said boyfriend would have to do some serious damage control when he got home.

Reno glanced over his shoulder at Roxas, who had to fight not to gasp. He looked just like Axel. His hair was a bit darker red, more wine-colored like Kairi's then crimson like Axel's. It was also worn very long and held in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. But his face looked just like Axel's. They could have been twins. He even had tattoos under the same startling green eyes, though his were different then Axel's. Red swooshes instead of black diamonds.

"Just don't make it a habit," he growled. Roxas nodded assuring Reno that he wouldn't. They were silent on the ride back to Roxas' place. The silence thickened and became tension as Reno pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"Thanks," Roxas muttered. He jumped out of the car and ran up his front steps, a bit pleased to see that the door was unlocked because he'd forgotten his keys. He wanted to talk to Sora. Sora was the only one who knew about Roxas' inky past. He'd been a supportive help throughout it all and he had even gone with Roxas to the clinic and held his hand while they waited for the test results, which were, thankfully, clean. With how many different partners he'd had, it was a miracle that he hadn't contracted any STDs, let alone AIDS.

Roxas reached Sora's door and walked in without knocking. "Hey Sora, can I…" Roxas stopped and stared for a long moment. Riku and Sora stared back. Roxas blinked, looked away blushing, exclaimed, "oh shit! Sorry!" and slammed the door shut. He ran down the hall and up the stairs to his room, trying to erase the image from his mind. Out of all the things he'd seen, walking on his brother and Riku having sex was the worst. He clutched his head between his hands, trying to think of something, anything, else. He looked up at Axel's hysterical laughter.

"It's not funny," he growled.

"Are you kidding?" Axel gasped. "You should see the look on your face!"

"I'm scarred for life!" Roxas exclaimed.

"That's why you should always knock before you enter a room!"

"I didn't know Riku was over!" Roxas moaned, knocking his head lightly against the doorframe. Axel continued to laugh, now howling so hard he was slumped against the wall in order to keep from falling over. Roxas was quiet for a few minutes, trying to rid himself of the mental image before he muttered, "Damn. I'm pretty sure Sora was a virgin. How did they go from oblivious Riku to…that?" Axel laughed again. "That's how Riku does it. He likes to make people chase him and when they least expect it, he swoops in and snatches them up. He wants to know if they're really interested or just chasing a crush."

"Does he usually screw them the first time he admits he has feelings?" Roxas grumbled.

Axel looked thoughtful. "No. He doesn't. I mean, Riku's no virgin, but he doesn't fuck around with people. You don't have to worry about Riku. His intentions are honorable."

Roxas sighed and fell back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Nice to know that some guys are," he muttered unthinkingly. Suddenly Axel was stretched out on his side next to him, his head propped up on one hand.

"What does that mean, Roxy?"

Roxas waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Was it something Marluxia did?" Axel asked quietly. He sounded like he knew something.

"Why do you ask?" Roxas growled suspiciously. Had Axel followed and he hadn't noticed?

"Marluxia has…a reputation. He likes guys like you and he's somewhat of a…well, a whore, quite honestly.

"First date and he wanted sex," Roxas sighed.

"I take it you said no?" Axel asked.

"Of course I said no!" Roxas snapped. "I had a bad time with it already…" he trailed off, realizing what he almost did. Axel looked at him suspiciously.

"What were you saying?" he pressed.

"Nothing," Roxas muttered.

"Talking helps, you know," Axel pushed.

"It's nothing, Axel! Forget it!" Roxas pushed off the bed and crossed the room, fuming silently. Why was he being so damn pushy?

"I just want to try to help you, Roxas. Like you're trying to help me." Roxas looked back at him and his heart nearly broke. Axel looked sad and thoughtful. He was staring intently at the ceiling as if embarrassed he'd said anything. Maybe…maybe Roxas could talk to him. After all, Axel had to be wondering why Roxas didn't want to help him out in the first place. It was his "job" to do so, wasn't it? He made his way back to the bed and sat down. He had never even really spoken to Sora about the root of it all.

"When I was thirteen, I met a hostile ghost," Roxas said quietly. "His name was Dane. He had been murdered and he sought me out because he wanted me to get revenge for him. I had this policy about revenge, so I told him no." He stopped, unsure whether to continue on or not. Axel took his hand and squeezed it lightly.

"My dad, he was a construction worker. He was basically the stronghold of our family. He was always happy and fun, ready to play with Sora and me or take my mom on a romantic date on a whim. He was like a super-human or something, I don't know. He was the best dad anyone could ever wish for. And Dane…he knew that. He could see how much we loved him."

Roxas was crying now, tears falling silently down his face. He'd never told the story to anyone before, and he could almost feel the weight lifting off his shoulders. Axel took his in his arms and hugged him to his chest. Roxas hugged him back, clutching to him like he was the only anchor that kept him from sailing away into nothing.

"One day, when my dad was on a job he followed him there. Dane had been around for a long time, so if he tried hard enough, he could touch a human. He pushed my dad off a structure he was making…and that wasn't even enough for him. He…oh god," Roxas gasped. He could remember it all so clearly in his mind. Dane had shown him an image of exactly how it happened.

"He broke a sheet of glass into a few huge shards…and they fell…and they cut to him to pieces," Roxas moaned. "I couldn't take the guilt, because I knew it was my fault. I tried to forget about it…and I did that through sex." Axel had moved him sometime while he'd been talking. Instead of hugging, he was now laying with his head in Axel's lap, Axel's fingers running soothingly through his hair.

"I…found as many partners as I could and I got into drugs. I sort of just…threw my life away, barely living, but not dying either. My mom was too busy with her grief to notice…but Sora saw it. He saw everything. It was him who forced me to get clean and took me to find out if I had any STDs. It was him who was always by my side to help me from my temptation. It was Sora who forced me to start doing my schoolwork and bringing my grades back up. He saved my life, really."

"That…that's awful, Roxas. I can't imagine you going through anything like that. You seem so innocent."

Roxas let out a deep breath, feeling so incredibly free. It was as if he'd finally accepted his father's death and his own role in it by fully sharing it with someone else.

"Thank you so much for listening, Axel," Roxas sighed.

"Anytime, Roxy." Axel stared down at him intently and Roxas' breath hitched in his throat. His face inched closer, and then his mouth was on Roxas'. It was nothing like that first kiss they'd shared. It wasn't hard and probing or desperate. It was gentle, caring, soft and wonderful. Roxas raised a hand to rest it on Axel's cheek, sitting up a bit so Axel didn't have to lean down so far. Axel had other ideas. He pushed Roxas back down, shifting so he was lying on the bed with Axel stretched over him, his arms keeping his weight from resting on the blonde completely. It was all great until Roxas felt Axel's weight resting on his hips, where Axel had sat to straddle him. This sent up a wave of panic. He planted his hands firmly on Axel's chest and pushed him away.

"Stop, I can't do this!" he gasped. Axel looked at him curiously.

"I understand if you don't want to do anything too forward…"

"No, that's not it. I can't do any of this," Roxas muttered.

"Why not?" Axel demanded.

"Because you're dead!" he hissed. "I, unfortunately for you, am not into necrophilia."

Axel sat back and looked at him hard for a moment, before letting out a sigh.

"Yeah. I get it," he muttered. "Sorry." Before Roxas could say another word, he disappeared. Roxas felt, if possible, worse now then he had before.

--

A/N: 0o the incident has been revealed! You may have noticed that Roxas' parents have remained nameless. Yes, I do that on purpose because they quite honestly aren't really the whole focus, so I find it pointless to give them names. It's like Curley's Wife from Of Mice and Men, though, admittedly, my friend Adam and I named her Roxanne.

Oh, also I know that the Marluxia date was very short. Same principle applies here. It wasn't really all that important, it was just the catalyst for Roxas revealing "the incident" to Axel.

Review! The plot Bunnies demand it!


	12. Puzzle Pieces

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 12

Saturday, mid-morning

When Roxas entered the kitchen the next morning, he had to continually stare at the floor. After what he had seen the night before, he found it difficult to look at his brother, much less Riku. Breakfast was very awkward, as no one quite knew what to say.

"So um…how was your date?" Sora asked finally, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Shitty. I'd rather not talk about it," Roxas muttered. Another bout of silence.

"Do you know where mom went last night?" Another stab at conversation from Sora.

"No."

Finally, Riku spoke up. "I'm gonna go take a shower, So," he said. He gave Sora a quick kiss on the cheek and made his way up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about last night," Sora muttered. "I should have locked my door…I wasn't thinking very clearly."

"I should have knocked," Roxas said quickly.

They were silent for a long time before they looked up at each other.

"Lets just…agree never to speak of this, ever again," Roxas said. Sora nodded gratefully. Roxas finished his cereal and put his bowl in the sink.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and talk with Axel. He found some stuff the other day that he thinks might be helpful and I haven't really been concentrating on working toward finding his murderer lately. I feel kind of bad." Not to mention strangely lonely. Roxas hadn't seen or heard from the redhead since he'd disappeared the night before. It wasn't like Axel to make himself scarce.

When Roxas entered his room, he was a bit disappointed to find that Axel wasn't waiting for him like usual. He was also a mix of shocked and angry to find Riku standing there instead.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Roxas snapped. Riku whipped around to look at him.

"Oh! Roxas." He cast another glance around the room.

"Listen," Roxas sighed. "I get it. You miss Axel, he's your best friend and all that jazz. But you can't just come into my room and snoop around. If this house affects you so damn much, don't come here."

"It's not really the house," Riku said quietly.

"I don't care what it is. You know, if you're just…using Sora to feel closer to Axel or something, don't. He's a good kid and pretty damn innocent. If you hurt him, I'll slit your fucking throat."

Riku looked out the window for a long minute, and then he looked back at Roxas.

"I'm not using Sora," he said before he went back downstairs.

Roxas wasn't quite sure what to make of Riku. Sometimes he seemed okay, and others Roxas just had a really bad feeling about him. He remembered what Demyx had said about Riku knowing more then he was letting on. If that was the case, Roxas needed to know what it was. But how could he convince Riku to tell him what he needed to know? He couldn't, not really. Riku got angry when anyone mentioned the name 'Axel' let alone if he was being accused of withholding information. If his temper was anything like Zexion's, he'd go storming off and not say a word. Roxas sighed and grabbed the pages from where he'd set them the night before. They had random dates and notes scrawled across them. Roxas spread them out and tried to lay them in order by date. In the end, he had this:

3/4- Bruise on upper right arm. "Walked into the door"

3/10- Bruised ribs Nail marks, broken skin on neck. "Fake-wrestling with Tidus"

3/26- Black eye "Walked into door" again?

4/3- Broken arm "fell down the stairs"

Conclusions: He's getting hurt and making lame excuses. Not nearly clumsy enough. Check up on the dad, get evidence.

That was all. The pictures were of the various mentioned injuries, all but the black eye. That was annoying, because Roxas didn't know who Axel had been talking about, and Axel didn't remember. So, now Roxas potentially knew why Axel was dead, but he had no idea as to who did it. Why wouldn't he have taken a picture of the black eye? Whoever this was, it had to be someone connected to Axel closely enough that he would notice these various wounds. What was that list he'd made the other day?

Roxas jumped up and went to his desk, grabbing a pile of note cards and a pen. He also grabbed a jumble of yarn from a box in his closet back from his knitting phase. He had been crazy about it and it had also been one of the things he'd done instead of drugs. He began scrawling on the cards and when he was done with his mini art project, he had a pretty decent looking connection.

He had written a name on every one of the cards and connected them all to Axel in the middle using the yarn. There was the cluster of Kairi, Naminé, and Reno connected with a yarn labeled "family". Another yarn, labeled "best friend", forked in two directions, one to Riku and one to Demyx. They both had another forked yarn leading to Zexion, labeled for their respective relationships. He had also added a card with the words "silver-haired man" and given it a category all its own, a question mark.

He knew the man was important. Axel had been extremely scared of him when he saw him in the memory. There had to be a reason for it. But the question was, what? What had this man done to make Axel so afraid of him?

There came a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Roxas called.

"It's mom!"

Roxas jumped up and made his way to the door. He cracked the door open just enough as to where he could stick his head out to see her.

"What's up?" he asked cheerfully, trying to keep her from noticing he wasn't allowing her to look in his room.

"I just realized that I haven't seen what you've done with your room yet," she said brightly.

"Oh…um…you want to look now?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you hiding, Roxas?"

"I…um…" Before he could get an excuse out, she pushed hard against the door, forcing him back, and letting herself into the room. Her eyes instantly trailed to Roxas' creation on the floor.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's nothing, mom…"

"Axel? Riku, Zexion, Demyx…Roxas what is this?" she asked quietly.

Roxas could see no way to avoid the question. It had been very direct and she was now looking at him with a piercing gaze. Roxas and Sora had never been able to lie to that gaze.

"Mom…you know…about the guy who lived here, in this room before me, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. Everyone I've spoken to has mentioned it. I guess that young man was somewhat of an earth shaker."

"Yeah…well, no one really knows what happened, right? I'm…I'm looking to find out."

She stared at him for a long time before looking away. She walked over to the window, staring out at the view over the city.

"Why do you want to know, Rox? Why is it any of your business?"

"I'm curious mom…"

"How do you expect to figure it out when the police couldn't?"

"I don't know mom. I have to try. It's just this, I don't know, this…compulsion. I can't not try, you know?"

She stopped and turned around to look at him. Her eyes looked sad, a little bit lost. He hadn't seen that look in well over a year, but now it was back full force.

"Roxas. Finding out what happened to Axel isn't going to bring your father back. It won't even explain what exactly happened up there." Roxas looked away, studying the bedspread with sudden interest.

"I know that mom. That isn't what this is about."

"I'm just…making sure, Roxas. I wouldn't want you to get your hopes up…"

"I'm not stupid mom. I know that. I just…I want to try. I feel like…I owe it to him."

"To your father?" she asked, confused.

"To Axel," Roxas corrected.

"Roxas…you don't even know Axel. You never met him."

"I know that mom. But…how would you feel if it were Sora or me? If one night one of us just disappeared and you had no idea whether we were dead or alive? And then the police just gave up on the case after three months. What if you had to live with the thought that maybe your son was alive somewhere, suffering…or dead and forgotten in the middle of nowhere?"

"I guess…I guess I wouldn't like that much at all. No, I don't think I would. Not at all."

"What if someone could help, mom? What if someone could, if not find him, find out what happened? What if someone could put their minds at ease?"

She sighed and nodded. "All right, Roxas. You do what you think you have to do. But…don't become too obsessed with it, okay? Don't let it eat you up."

"I won't mom," Roxas assured her.

She went down the stairs without another word, leaving Roxas to stand alone and try and figure out what had just happened.

"You don't owe me anything." Roxas jumped at the sound of Axel's voice. He turned around to face his fiery-haired friend.

"I don't? I think I at least owe you an apology," Roxas sighed. "Last night…what I did…that was mean. Really mean. I shouldn't have encouraged it. I'm sorry."

Axel shrugged. "I get it, I really do. That's not to say I'm not extremely disappointed, but I get it." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to look out the window, just as Roxas' mother had done minutes before. He didn't quite know what to say, so he stuck to business.

"Um…well, I want you to tell me about that silver-haired guy I saw in your memories. Who is he, and why are you so scared of him?"

Axel looked back at him and shrugged. "I don't know why I felt so scared when I saw him. I guess it just roots back to when I was a kid. He scared the hell out of me then, but he has a knack for scaring small children. The chief of police has to be scary, I guess."

"He's the chief of police?" Roxas asked with a frown.

Axel nodded. "Yeah. He's Riku's dad, too."

And some of the story clicked into place.

--

A/N: Wow, that is the most the mother has ever said. I know, another bit of pointlessness. I threw that in there to show that Roxas' opinion has changed. He's not just doing it to get rid of Axel. He's doing it because he cares and he considers Axel a friend. By the way, there are four chapters left after this one.


	13. Finding Axel

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 13

_Sunday, late morning_

Roxas was thinking hard as he made his way to each room, checking to make sure that the patients had everything they needed. His thoughts had been interrupted several times when he'd stopped to talk to the elderly people. They loved that he listened to the stories they had to tell, and he was fascinated to hear them. Still, he had to work and he had to think. He'd made a connection yesterday when he'd heard about the silver-haired man. It did make sense. If Riku was the one being abused and Axel had found out about it, he would want to tell, wouldn't he? But if Riku hadn't wanted to tell, it would be because he was being threatened, or someone he loved was being threatened. Most likely Zexion. The brothers had a fierce loyalty to each other, and Riku would do anything to protect his younger brother. Roxas could understand that. But what had happened after that? Had Axel threatened Riku's dad and he'd killed him to get him out of the way? Or had Riku taken care of Axel himself, afraid for Zexion? Roxas wasn't sure.

His bad feeling about Riku made him think that Riku was certainly capable of drowning his best friend, and he was definitely touchy enough about any mention of Axel. But did this mean he was a murderer? Or just a guilt-ridden friend? And either way, how could Roxas prove anything? He had a good theory, but no real cold hard facts. The only way he could know for sure was if he got Riku to confess what had happened. Roxas was positive now that Riku knew everything. But how would he get him to confess?

He glanced up at the clock and saw that it was five minutes to noon. He was supposed to check in at noon so he could go get lunch. He finished what he was doing and made his way back to the nurses' station.

"Roxas, there you are!" one of the nurses, a woman named Carla greeted him.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. So many of these people are so interesting." Carla laughed.

"I know. I hope it's not keeping you from doing your job," she added sternly.

"No, of course not. I know why I'm here," he said quickly.

"Good," she smiled. "Go eat." He grinned, grabbed his bag, and started toward the elevator.

Roxas didn't really pay attention to what he was buying to eat, nor did he really taste it as it slid down his throat. He was busy scrawling his thoughts in his notebook, trying to organize them somewhere except inside his head.

"I…really don't want to think it is Riku." Axel. Had he been there the whole time? Or had he just turned up recently? Roxas turned a page in his notebook and wrote quickly.

"It has to be left open for consideration. I'm thinking that either him or his father are the most likely candidates. It really does make sense."

"Yeah, but Roxy…he's my best friend. Why would he hurt me?"

"Because you knew too much and you were threatening to tell. Look, I'm not saying that it is him, I saying it could be," Roxas wrote.

"Wouldn't he want me to tell?"

"Not if it would hurt Zexion. Riku would rather take all the pain for himself then let his little brother be hurt."

Axel fell silent. He stared in the opposite direction for a long time. Roxas continued to eat, not looking up from his notebook. Years of practice ignoring ghosts made it easy for him to pretend that Axel wasn't there. He returned to his thoughts.

It all came down to making Riku tell what he knew. How could they make him confess? Roxas couldn't just come out and tell him about Axel. Riku would never believe it. Maybe he could get Axel to tell him some things about Riku that only Axel would know. That would have to convince him, wouldn't it? Roxas shook his head. It wasn't a fool-proof plan, but it was really all they had.

"Is it awful that I feel betrayed?" Axel asked quietly, still not looking at Roxas. The blonde shook his head and whispered, "No. But…I promise I won't betray you."

"Thanks Roxy," Axel said quietly. He disappeared from his spot next to Roxas on the bench. Roxas glanced at the clock, surprised at how much time had passed. He had lost track of time with how absorbed he had been with his thoughts. Roxas stood, shoved his notebook in his bag, threw his tray in the trash, and headed back upstairs. He started back on his round, going in and making sure everything was how it was supposed to be, chatting cheerfully with the patients who were awake. He continued on this way until he came upon room 138. He paused at the door, having the strangest feeling. He glanced over his shoulder to see if someone was watching him. There were several other people in the hallways, but none of them were paying any attention to him. Roxas shrugged. He was probably just paranoid. The blonde pushed the door open and made his way into the room. He glanced at the list of names on the clipboard he carried, curious to see the name 'John Doe'. Apparently, the patient was in a coma and no one knew who he was. Roxas glanced up from his clipboard, and that's when his heart stopped in shock.

_Carla, one year previous_

The first ray of sunlight shining through the trees in the early morning was probably the most beautiful thing in the world. Carla stopped in her walk to take a deep breath of the early morning fresh air. She loved the town she lived in, just far enough away from the big city of Hollow Bastion to have fresh air and a nice community, but close enough as to where they weren't considered a hick town. She stopped next to the river. The river ran down the middle of the whole town. It was a convenient water source and a good place for kids to play in the summer time. It was also the cleanest river you would ever see, especially so close to a city. Carla glanced at her watch. She had about forty-five minutes until she had to be to work. She could spare ten more minutes, though, right? Carla continued to walk along the river, but her ten minute walk was cut drastically short about two minutes later. The first thing that caught her eyes was a flash of red. Upon closer inspection, she discovered the red was someone's hair. A teenage boy, probably seventeen or eighteen by the looks of him, was lying halfway in the river. He appeared to have pulled himself out after nearly drowning. He was coughing viciously, hardly conscious. She rushed to his side and turned him on his back, resorting to CPR while fumbling to pull her phone out of her pocket. She concentrated first on getting some of the water out of his lungs, repeating the process until he coughed violently and spit up a whole bunch of water. He was incredibly lucky he hadn't died by the time she had found him. When he started breathing normally without coughing, she dialed 911 and called for an ambulance. Time seemed to move so slowly as she sat there and waited with this boy that she didn't even know, who could have easily died in her arms. His hair was such a startling red that she didn't realize he was bleeding until she ran her fingers over the wound and they came away dark and sticky with blood. She pulled her hoodie over her head and held it tightly against the wound. His eyes fluttered open. They were a startling green color, almost inhuman. His mouth moved slowly for a moment, as if he was trying to say something. She leaned closer to him and heard him whisper, "Riku…help…" his voice died with those two words.

"Don't you worry," she said soothingly. "We're going to get you help." He fainted, and a few minutes later, the ambulance showed up, accompanied by the chief of police of Hollow Bastion. He was somewhat scary, giving off this feeling of uneasiness. Their little town was without a police station of its own, so they were under the jurisdiction of the Hollow Bastion police. Carla told him about how she had happened upon the boy and he thanked her for her help. She had been going to ask if he knew anything about the redhead, but he disappeared before she got the chance. Over the next few weeks, he never woke up, but the hospital kept him in and took care of him until one day when he might chose to. They didn't know who he was or where he'd come from or if he had any family, so they just kept him. One day, he might wake, and then they would deal with the issue of bills and finding kin. Carla was always sure to stop in and talk to him everyday. She knew he probably didn't even hear her. After so long of being underwater, even if he did wake up, it would be a miracle if didn't suffer some form of brain damage. Still, she was strangely attached to him. Maybe it was because she was the one who had found him, or because she had a motherly instinct and it hurt her to see a child all alone in the world. Either way, she felt it was necessary to watch over him and make sure he was okay.

_Carla, Present Day_

Room 138. The last on her round. She opened the door, ready to face the sadness that was watching her patient react to nothing. Even after a year, he'd made no progress but for the fact that his head wound had healed and the hair they'd had to shave completely off in order to suture it had grown back with a vengeance. It was even longer now then it had been when she originally found him. Today, though, he wasn't alone. The new candy striper, Roxas, was there. He was staring down at the redhead with fascination. Carla wondered if he felt the same way she did about him.

"I see you've found my favorite patient. What are you still doing here?" Roxas jumped a mile, turning to look at her.

"You look like you saw a ghost," she commented. Roxas cracked a small, amused smile at this. She wasn't sure why this comment was so amusing, but she figured the kid was quirky or something.

"How long has he been here?" he asked quietly, looking back down at the redhead.

"About a year. I found him in the river half-drowned last April."

Roxas shook his head, looking a little lost. "A year, and he was only one town over," he murmured quietly.

"Do you know him?" Carla asked, excited. "Roxas, do you know who this boy is?"

Roxas looked up at her, his eyes completely serious. "Has anyone been asking after him over the last year?" he asked.

Carla was shocked by the question. "Yes, Hollow Bastion's chief of police asks every couple weeks." Roxas looked troubled.

"Look, Carla, I know you don't me very well, but I need to ask you to trust me. I do know him. His name is Axel and his entire family thinks he's dead. But you can't tell anyone that you know who he is, all right? And…if the police chief asks…tell him that nothing has changed." Carla looked at the blonde suspiciously.

"Why?" she demanded to know. "I can't really explain right now. Please, promise me that you won't. It's for his own safety."

His bright blue eyes were burning with a fierce intensity and she felt a compulsion to believe him. To do what he wanted to do and keep her patient-Axel's-identity a secret. She gave a short nod.

"All right. I won't tell. But I want an explanation."

"I will explain," Roxas promised. "Just not right now. I need to go talk to a friend. One thing is very important, though. Do not trust the chief of police. Don't let him be alone with Axel, all right? Please, keep him safe." Carla nodded, and before she could say anything else, Roxas was out the door. She approached the bed and looked down at Axel.

"Maybe we'll find your family, yet," she murmured, smoothing his hair away from his face affectionately.

--

A/N: Yup. There you have it. Axel isn't actually dead. Yeah…raise your hand if you saw that one coming. I tried to do something good for chapters 8 and 13. 8 was the wonderfully scientific explanation about Roxas' Sight and this one was just a gigantic whammy, wasn't it? If anyone can tell me where I got Nurse Carla from, you'll get a high-five. I just sent my army of werepenguins out to each of your respective homes. I have given them the word to eat the families of those who don't review. So if you love your family, or at least don't want to get charged with their murder, review.


	14. Convincing Riku

A/N: To the 12 of you who reviewed, I'm glad you care enough about your family (or at least your own jail-free status) to review and be safe from the werepenguins. You are allowed to keep them to do your bidding. On the other hand, to the 104 people who read but did not review, my condolences on your families, and please send my penguins home with a box lunch so as they won't get hungry.

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 14

_Sunday, early evening_

Roxas waited impatiently for the doors of the subway to slide open. He'd tried calling both home and Sora's cell phone, but no one was answering. That was weird, because Sora always answered his phone. He figured he was probably with Riku. He called Naminé and told her to meet him in his room. Roxas hailed a cab home and paid it extra to go over the speed limit. Lucky for them, they didn't get pulled over. He jumped out, throwing the money to the cabbie and ran into the house and upstairs, shouting a hello to his mom. When Roxas entered his room, Axel was perched on his bed and Naminé was sitting in his desk chair. They were chatting easily.

"You will never guess who I just saw at the hospital!" Roxas gasped as he swung his door shut behind him. They both looked at him and smiled at his exhausted appearance.

"Who did you see?" Naminé asked as Axel said, "Oh! Jared Leto!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "No, I did not see Jared Leto. Better."

"Johnny Depp?" Naminé guessed.

"No! You, Axel!" he growled, annoyed by their playful banter. Didn't they know it was important? "I saw you!"

"Yeah, I know. I saw you, too," he shrugged.

Roxas sighed. Why didn't they get it? "No, Axel, I saw your body."

Axel's eyebrows drew together in a look of confusion. He exchanged a look with Naminé, who merely shrugged.

"Are you feeling okay, Roxy?" he asked uncertainly.

"I feel fine. Great, even!" Roxas said, trying to keep his voice calm. He knew he sounded a tad bit crazy.

"Um…Axel is dead, Roxas," Naminé murmured.

"That's just it, though. He's not. He's in a coma," Roxas explained patiently. Axel blinked rapidly for a long moment, and then he grinned.

"I'm not dead?" he asked. Roxas shook his head, Axel's grin catching on. "I'm not dead!" Axel yelled, throwing his arms up in victory.

"But…how do we get your soul back into your body?" Naminé asked quietly. Axel stopped his impromptu victory dance and glared at her.

"Damn, Nami, way to ruin my moment."

"I'm sorry," she shrugged. "I was just trying to be realistic about this."

"You were trying to be realistic about putting a ghost back in his body?" Axel came back to sit down on the bed and Roxas joined him.

"So…how do we do it?" Axel asked. Roxas shrugged, completely discouraged again.

"Well…I suppose we can always try and just…stick his soul back to his body," Naminé shrugged.

"It's worth a try, I guess…but…I want to get my answers before we do it."

Roxas felt his jaw drop as he looked over at his friend.

"Are you kidding? You have a chance to truly live again and you want to find out who did it still?" he asked.

Axel looked sad. "Wouldn't you, Roxy? I'm…curious. I want to know if my best friend tried to kill me before I see him in person again. Wouldn't you?"

Roxas nodded. He could see Axel's point. "All right, Axel. I see your point," he sighed. Maybe it would be good to have Axel stay the way he was for a while. Once he was alive and available to the rest of the world, he wouldn't have time for Roxas anymore. What would he want with him when he had Riku again? Roxas made a mental note to stock up on comfort food for Sora and himself soon.

A wicked grin suddenly split across Axel's face.

"I think I know exactly how to do this, too," he said. Naminé, would you go down to Reno's old room and join Riku and Sora for a while? Peel them off each other with a crowbar if you have to. Talk to Riku about me…tell him about your gift and try to convince him that I'm here."

Naminé looked uncertain. "What are you going to do, Ax?" she asked. The redhead grinned and patted his sister on the top of her head.

"You'll see, Nami. Be a good girl and do what you're told." Naminé smiled, pushed Axel's hand off her head, and made her way downstairs. They listened until they heard her knock on Sora's door.

Roxas was shocked when, in a flurry of red, Axel pushed him down on the bed, climbed on top of him, and pinned Roxas' hips under his own.

"Axel, what…?" Roxas gasped as Axel leaned down and began kissing his neck hungrily, nipping little bites along the way toward his jaw.

"If I recall correctly," Axel murmured between kisses, "You said you couldn't do this because I was dead. But I'm not dead, am I?" He had a point, and with Axel's tongue flicking over his earlobe, he really couldn't care less anyway. Roxas let out a small growl as Axel ghosted (heh ghosted) his lips over Roxas' own.

"Damn tease," he growled. Axel laughed and his lips came crashing down forcefully. The blonde responded happily, opening his mouth for Axel's probing tongue without complaint. Somewhere along the way, Roxas' hands had snaked their way around Axel's neck and now rested in his hair, pulling their bodies flush together. There was an intense heat surrounding them, almost like if they dared to let go, they'd be engulfed. Roxas didn't plan on letting go either, except for the fact that he needed to breathe.

Axel let out a small moan of protest as Roxas pulled away, breathing hard. He soon found another way to entertain himself, though. He slipped his hands under Roxas' shirt and ground his hips against his current captive's, causing Roxas to gasp and his blood to rush, though not to his face as per usual.

"Like that, do we Roxy?" Axel whispered huskily, moving to pull his shirt completely off. "Don't even bother answering, I can feel it," he hissed, grinding again. His hands were wandering over Roxas' chest, his lips following closely behind and the blonde let out a moan, which made Axel growl. "Damn, Roxy, I just want to make you do that over and over again."

Usually, Roxas would have been all for it, encouraging, even. But right now, they had a job to do. He could almost hit himself for stopping them, but someone had to be responsible.

"Axel, we have to stop," he murmured.

"Why?" Axel whispered, kissing his way up Roxas' chest, softly biting every few kisses. Suddenly Roxas couldn't remember why. Why the hell would he want to stop? Was he crazy?

"What the hell is your problem, Naminé!?" Ah, right, that was why.

"Axel, really. I think Naminé is waiting for you to enact your part of the plan," Roxas gasped, pushing Axel away regretfully.

"Damn it!" Axel snapped, running a hand through his hair in irritation. "Damn it! All right, fine. I'll go help Nami out, but we will continue this later," he growled. Roxas nodded, still breathless.

"Meet me in Reno…Sora's room," he said, and he sunk right through the floor.

"Damn show off," Roxas muttered, standing up. He was a bit thankful his body hadn't gotten too far ahead of him. It would be rather hard to take him seriously with a hard on, wouldn't it?

He ran down the stairs and approached Sora's door, which was now ajar. Riku was on one side of the room, looking livid, Naminé was on the other, looking calm as usual, and Sora was between them, looking confused. Axel was standing next to Riku, looking speculative.

"What's going on in here?" Roxas asked. Riku opened his mouth to yell some more and Axel stepped inside if him. He made several faces of disgust as he did so, but almost instantly, his figure dimmed out and Riku's face went blank. Roxas had to admit, it was a smart way of doing it. No way to deny it when you're being possessed.

"What the hell?" was all Sora said as Riku sprang back to life again.

"Huh. So this is what it feels like to be Riku. Oh wow, his hair is really swishy," Axel marveled, shaking his head back and forth to watch the silver tresses.

"Axel, could you focus, please?" Roxas sighed.

"Axel?" Sora exclaimed. "You possessed him? Why?"

"I'd quite like to know the same," Naminé said.

"Well, when Roxas came in to get me out of Sora, he lived through some of my most important memories. I thought it might happen when I went in to Riku and I was right. He didn't do it, guys." A look of complete happy bliss spread across Riku's face. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Roxas had ever seen.

"Maybe you should get out so we can explain things to him," Sora suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. Though I kind of like being Riku. No wonder he's so confident. He's damn strong."

"Be serious, Axel," Naminé pleaded. Riku grinned again before his expression went blank. A moment later, Axel's figure sharpened out and he stepped away from Riku, who was blinking dazedly.

"How did you learn how to get out?" Roxas asked him. He grinned.

"When I got bored while you were at school, I practiced on random neighborhood kids," he shrugged.

"Axel!" Naminé exclaimed as Roxas laughed and said, "You did not!"

"I totally did, but shouldn't we be focusing on him right now?" he jerked his thumb in Riku's direction. Riku looked a mix between scared and trying to remain calm.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"That was Axel," Naminé shrugged. "You saw him, didn't you?"

"I…I did see him," Riku muttered. He sat on Sora's bed and looked at them.

"Explain," he demanded. So they did. Roxas did most of the talking, Sora and Naminé throwing in what they knew every once in a while. Riku was completely silent for at least five minutes after they finished explaining.

"I think he might have gone in to shock," Sora muttered nervously. Riku shook his head at the sound of Sora's voice.

"No, Sora. I'm all right. I'm just…trying to soak it all in. So…you're basically telling me that you two," he pointed at Roxas and Naminé, "Can see ghosts and Axel isn't actually dead?" They all nodded. Riku let out a deep breath.

"All right," he sighed. "What can I do?"

"I knew there was a reason you're my best friend, Riku!" Axel exclaimed. "Hey Roxy, can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Are you crazy?" Roxas snapped.

"It's just for a minute. I want to talk to Riku face to face. Please?" Axel begged.

Roxas sighed heavily. How could he deny that face?

"All right. Quickly." Axel wasn't able to step inside Roxas, so he just wrapped his arms around him instead. Nothing happened for a moment, and then Roxas felt something yank at him. It was the strangest sensation, and he suddenly didn't have a body. He could still hear everything going on around him, even if he couldn't see anything.

"Roxas?" Riku asked.

"Try again," Axel grinned.

"Axel," Riku sighed.

"The one and only. Did ya miss me, or what?"

"Get on with it, Axel!" Roxas yelled.

"Right, sorry Roxy. Damn, you're pretty short. What are you, 5'6"?" he asked.

"We're 5'8"," Sora responded indignantly.

"Still, you're short. Anyway, Riku, I need to talk to you. I have an idea…to get my revenge on your dad…but I'm gonna need your help. Will you do it?"

"I…I don't know, Axel…"

"We'll make sure Zexion is safe. Kairi and Naminé will recruit Demyx to kidnap him for the day. They're intelligent girls, they can make something up," Axel wheedled.

"…All right. Tell me what to do."

--

A/N: HAHAHA! Finally, some AkuRoku without Roxas having a freakout! Yes, life is good, my people. Axel demands that you review, at the risk of you getting possessed. Can you imagine the havoc that guy could wreak in your body (minds out of the gutters!). Yeah…that would not fare to well for you guys, I think.


	15. Nobility, Insanity, or Love?

A/N: Ohmygod, dudes. It's the penultimate chapter! What will go down, hmmm? By the way, the last chapter won't be up for another few days, merely because I want y'all to squirm...

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome). Song lyrics (Roxas' ring tone) belong to The Used.

Chapter 15

_Monday, early evening_

_"One more time to say, I'll love you always and keeping faith, letting love find a way."_

Roxas pulled his phone from his pocket and flipped it open.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"Roxas, it's starting. Riku just left the house with his dad. You should get started convincing that nurse."

"Right. Naminé, is Axel with you?"

"Yes. Would you like to talk to him?"

Roxas glanced at his watch. "Just for a second." He waited for a moment, listening to the sound of the phone being shuffled.

"Hey Roxy. Miss me already?" Axel asked with a grin. "I promise, when this is all over we can finish what we started the other day."

"Dammit, Axel, don't you try to distract me! Did you change my ring tone again?"

There was a moment of guilty silence on the other end.

"Dammit, don't touch my phone!" he hissed.

"Just wanted to give you a little something to remind you of me," Axel said, and Roxas could just see his grin.

"You guys better get here," Roxas sighed, hanging up the phone and slipping it in his pocket. He ran down the hall to the nurses' station, ready to start his part of the plan.

"Carla, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked cheerfully.

"Sure Roxas. I've got to go check on the patient on 138. When can talk there," Carla replied. Roxas was impressed with how smoothly she caught on to his hint. He followed her down the hall and into Axel's room. As soon as he shut the door, she was wheeling around to look at him.

"Are you going to explain to me what is going on?" she hissed.

"I'm going to speak very fast, to make a long story short, so try to keep up, all right?"

Carla nodded to show she understood. Roxas took a deep breath and started to explain.

"All right, there's this guy named Riku who lives down the street from me. Well, about a year or so ago, Axel started to notice random bruises showing up on Riku. Riku blamed clumsiness, but Riku isn't really a clumsy guy. Anyway, through random events Axel found out that Riku's father, the chief of police of Hollow Bastion, was abusing him. When he came to Riku to convince him to tell, Riku wouldn't because he was afraid that his father would hurt his younger brother Zexion. But Axel decided to tell anyway and Riku's father found out about it. That's when he got to Axel. He knocked him out from behind, dragged him all the way to the river, and tried to drown him. You found him and saved his life, but you alerted Riku's father that he was still alive. He's been checking in periodically to find out if Axel's died yet or woken up. Because if Axel's awake he can ruin everything. If he knows that Axel is awake, he'll finish the job."

Carla gaped at him for a minute or so, probably trying to absorb everything.

"The chief of police?" she gasped. "I don't…how do you know all this?" she asked quietly.

"Um…that's not really important…"

"It is, Roxas! How can you expect me to believe this?" she demanded.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you! Please, Carla, you just have to take my word for it. We're running out of time!"

"I can't just take your word for it, Roxas!" she argued,

"I SEE GHOSTS, CARLA! Okay? The spirits of the dead come and talk to me and ask for my help and Axel did that, so here I am! There, now you think I'm crazy, don't you?"

Roxas looked away in anger, but that only made his eyes fall on Axel and that didn't help. It was so weird to see him so still and calm. It was almost scary. Roxas reached out and took one of his hands, which was lying on top of his blanket.

Carla shook her head. "No, I don't think that's crazy at all. I have a brother who sees ghosts," she said quietly.

"Oh," Roxas answered, feeling slightly foolish. "Yeah…well…I came to change some of my instructions. You see…because Axel is still alive, we figure we can get him back in his own body and he'll come out of his coma. But…he refuses to do it until he gets his justice…so we…kinda set him up a little…and the chief of police will be here. Let him in, all right? Another question, do these rooms have video cameras in them?"

"Most of them don't," Carla said. "But Axel's does. We wanted to make sure we'd know when he woke up so we could explain what happened."

"That's perfect," Roxas grinned. "All right, I think we're all set. You watch the video that transmits in here. As soon as you have a confession, call the police." Carla nodded. Axel slipped through the door and grinned. "Its all ready, babe. He'll be here any minute now. You should probably hide."

"Right," Roxas nodded. "Carla, you have to go. Back to the nurse's station!" Carla nodded and left the room. Roxas made to slide into the closet, but Axel grabbed his arm. "What? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. We'll be fine, right?" Axel asked quietly. Roxas nodded and grinned. "Yeah, of course."

"Yeah…right…um…Roxy?" Axel sounded nervous. Really nervous.

"Axel…what's wrong?" Roxas asked, slightly worried.

"Um…I just…"

Roxas was really starting to worry now. "Axel! Spit it out!"

"Roxy, I love you." Before Roxas could reply, the doorknob jiggled. Roxas slid into the supply closet in the room. He could see through the slats in the door, but he was sure that he couldn't be seen without close inspection. Axel leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"This is it, Roxy. I'll see you on the other side, huh?"

Roxas didn't have time to answer before the door swung open. In came the silver haired man, Riku walked closely behind him.

"You see, dad?" Riku said. "He's still alive!"

"Good work, son. You were right to tell me."

"Now you can tell his family," Riku prompted.

He laughed and shook his head. "You are quite naïve, aren't you, Riku? Why would I want to tell his family?"

"Why not?" Riku wheedled.

He glanced at his son, a frown on his features.

"Come on, cut it out, Riku," Axel hissed. "He's catching on. Damn it Sephiroth, be a little dumber!"

Sephiroth took a few more steps into the room, closing the door behind him. He stopped next to Axel's bed, looking down on his immobile form. He reached out a hand and stroked his hair.

"Oh Axel. Now that we have a risk of our secret being revealed, I'm afraid I'm going to have to finish what I started."

"Get your fucking hands off me," Axel growled. Sephiroth, as if he had heard him, moved back a few paces and looked at Riku.

"I want you to wait in the hallway. If anyone is coming, knock on the door three times for me."

"Um…why dad?" Riku asked, one last time in desperation.

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Riku? You stand outside the door and look out while I kill your little friend. I failed the first time. Apparently this guy is some sort of fish, as he just wouldn't drown last April."

"So…you tried to kill him?" Riku gasped.

"Yes, Riku. I tried to kill him. If you don't shut up and go watch the door, I will kill you! Now go!" Riku quickly ran into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Okay…so this wasn't part of the plan, was it?" Axel muttered. Roxas was a bit panicked. They hadn't been planning on Sephiroth trying to kill Axel, at least not right away. In retrospect, they probably should have.

"Shit, Roxy, what do we do?" Axel whispered. Roxas made a split decision. He pushed the closet door open and stepped out.

"If you kill him now, everyone will know," Roxas said. Sephiroth hardly looked surprised to see him. Roxas wasn't sure whether it was because he already knew he was there or he was just very good at hiding his feelings.

"How do you think so?" he demanded.

Roxas pointed smugly to the video camera in the corner. "That nifty little piece of equipment just recorded everything you said. We have a confession on tape."

He didn't even look phased. "I own the police, little boy."

"You don't own them enough to cover up a confessed attempted murder," Roxas hissed. He didn't really know if this was true, but he was hoping to distract him long enough to keep anything bad from happening.

"Well, yes, I suppose you do have a point." Roxas felt a moment of elation. "In that case, I suppose I don't have to be quiet about it, then." Then Sephiroth pulled out a gun and Roxas' elation died.

"Oh, shit." Axel groaned. Yup. That about summed it up.

"You're just going to shoot him?" Roxas asked.

"That is the plan, yes. Why, are you going to play hero and stand in the way?"

"Um…I…" Roxas wasn't sure what to do. Was he willing to put himself at gunpoint for Axel? Well…he'd already done that, hadn't he? But was he willing to get himself killed for Axel?

"_Roxy, I love you."_

It was not a good time for Axel's confession to come into his head. How was he supposed to react to that? Why had Axel told him right before everything went down? Why had Axel told him at all? As soon as he was back in his body he could have Riku again. So why would he tell Roxas that he loved him?

And…what did that mean to Roxas. Sure, he was attracted to Axel. He liked him a lot, but…love? He hadn't even considered the possibility of being in love with Axel. But here he was, standing protectively in between Axel and a madman holding a gun. What was love, if not that? Yup…it was that simple. He was either crazy in love or just plain crazy.

"So, answer me, boy. If you are going to be cannon fodder, stay right where you are, but if you want to live, get the hell out of the way."

"Roxy!" Axel hissed. "Move, dammit! Forget it, I'm practically dead anyway!" Roxas refused to move though. Axel said he was practically dead, but that wasn't true. He was just as alive as Roxas, and he couldn't just stand by and let him be killed to save his own skin. Call it what you wish, nobility, insanity, or love, but he just couldn't do it.

"Okay," Roxas sighed.

"Okay what?" Sephiroth asked with a leer.

"Okay. Go ahead and shoot me," Roxas dared. "Do it. But I'm not moving."

Sephiroth laughed, throwing his head back and practically howling.

"You have nerve kid, I'll give you that," he growled. The smirk disappeared from his face. "But, unfortunately for you, that's not enough."

"Roxas, god dammit, move!" Axel was begging now. He came from his place on the wall and grabbed his arm. "Please, just…"

Axel didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as in that moment Sephiroth fired his gun. Roxas wasn't really aware of anything except the stock-still gun in front of him. That was the only thing he could see until a sharp pain hit him somewhere in his chest and he was falling backwards on to the bed. The entire world had gone quiet and he could vaguely see a flash of red out of the corner of his eye before the black took over and there was nothing.

--

A/N: Damn, these guys just can't win, can they? Review if you LURVE ME!! (which you probably don't now that I just had Roxas shot...)


	16. IMPORTANT!

Yo, people! I know that we're not supposed to use whole chapters for author's notes, but this is actually important and really necessary. You see, I've decided to go about this in a different way then I originally planned. I thought it would be more fun, for both of us, this way. I don't know how many of you know this, but I pre-wrote the entire fic before I even posted the first chapter, that is why I was able to update so quickly (otherwise we'd prolly be back somewhere around chapter six still). Anyway, the point is, I wrote an ending and I was pleased with it, but just yesterday I thought to myself. I said, "Self, what would the different outcomes be compared to Roxas living or Roxas dying?" and my inner self replied, "By god, my dear VampyreQueen, you are a thinker, aren't you? I must say, I'm quite interested in where you are going with this. Thus, I wrote two different endings.

Now, my loyal readers, it is up to you to choose Roxas' fate! Will you pick Ending One or Ending Two? (Both are named With Me Tonight). So, make the decision, my friends. Hell, if you want, you can read 'em both and decide which one you like better afterwards.

Either way, I'd really love to know what you think, for the final time! sobs God, I'm gonna miss you guys. On the other hand (yes, I am going to shamelessly self-endorse) I've just started working on a Zemyx but I don't know how long it will be until I have it finished so I can post. However, for those of you with me on their watch list, that shouldn't be much of a problem, should it? Okay, I am shutting up now. Enjoy the final installment(s) of The Sight.


	17. With Me Tonight 1

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 16

_Day? Don't know. Time? Don't know._

Axel let out a small gasp and started coughing angrily. He felt…extremely heavy.

"Axel? Axel, are you awake?" He tried opening his eyes, but was blinded by a bright white light. He groaned, raising a hand to shield his eyes, only to find that it was strapped to something.

"Wha' the hell?" he muttered. "Wha's goin' on?"

"Axel?"

He managed to open his eyes by blinking about ten million times. When everything actually came into focus, he could see that several people were leaning over him.

"Wow…this must be what animals at the zoo feel like," he grumbled. "Back up off of me, will you?" They obeyed and Axel pulled himself up, marveling at how heavy he felt.

"How are you feeling?" Riku asked.

"Really…heavy…"

He looked around in a daze. There was a brunette woman he was fairly sure he'd never met before in his life, Riku, Naminé, Kairi, Reno, his mother, Demyx, Zexion, and Sora. Sora…Roxas.

"Where's Roxas?" Axel demanded, sitting up straighter. "What happened to Roxas?" Axel couldn't really remember anything. He remembered watching Roxas get shot and falling backwards, almost as if in slow motion. It had been almost graceful, collapsing back onto the bed and then sliding to the floor all in one fluid motion. But after that…nothing. Axel pushed the blankets off himself and made to stand up, but the brunette woman placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him where he was.

"Stay where you are. You can't see him now anyway. He's still in a pretty critical condition."

"What all happened?" Axel begged.

"I can't reveal that to non-family…" she sighed.

"Sora," Axel said quickly, turning to face the brunet. "Please, tell me."

"He…took a bullet to the chest and it pierced a lung. He almost drowned on his own blood. Luckily for him, he was in the hospital when it happened. They were able to save him, but his lung collapsed and…well, it was a big mess. They fixed him though. He should be okay, but they say he needs a lot of bed rest and nothing too exciting. That's why no one but mom is allowed in."

Axel nodded and let out a sigh. He looked over at all the people sitting by his bedside, waiting for him. It was then that he realized they could all see him.

"Oh shit, you guys can see me," he exclaimed.

"Um…yes. We can. In fact, we've always been able to. There are these crazy little enigmas in your head called eyes…"

"Shut up, Reno," Axel groaned, leaning back against the headboard and glaring at his brother.

"Axel, honey, you have no idea how much I've missed you. For so long, I was so afraid that you were dead…" His mom threw her arms around his neck and proceeded to choke the life out of him in a hug.

"Mom…mom…I'll be dead in a minute if you don't let go!" She loosened her grip. "I'm sorry, honey…"

"It's fine, ma, really." They spent hours talking about how much they'd all missed Axel and how disbelieving they were about Riku's dad. They had all assured Riku that they forgave him after he apologized profusely. It was hours before Axel was able to convince everyone that he was far too tired to talk anymore and had to sleep. He drifted off with thoughts of Roxas, hoping he'd be okay until Axel could see him again.

_Day? Don't know. Time? Don't know._

Roxas felt strangely like he was floating. How…weird. He let out a small laugh at the strange feeling and made to move, but something grabbed his arm and kept him in place. Roxas blinked a few times, bringing himself back to consciousness. He suddenly knew the cause of that strange feeling. He was obviously drugged up so much he wouldn't feel it if someone bit him on the nose. He didn't bother trying to pull himself up, only looked around the room. His mother was leaned back in a chair, fast asleep. Sora was stretched across the floor next to her. On Roxas' other side was Axel. A non-glowing Axel. He was sitting in a chair, his arms folded on the side of the bed, his head rested on top of them. He looked peaceful as he slept, and Roxas realized this was the first time he had ever seen him in any state of rest before.

It was so strange to see him out of the jeans and hoodie he'd been wearing since Roxas had first seen him. He now had on a black fishnet shirt with another tighter black shirt over it. It was painfully obvious how skinny his was, even moreso now that the baggy hoodie wasn't obstructing the view.

A noise alerted him that he wasn't the only one awake. Carla was standing over him, checking on an IV that was connected to his arm. She was the one that had held him down.

"You're just as bad as he is," she jerked her head at Axel. "He whined and bothered me for a week straight to let him in to see you. You'd think that after spending a year in the hospital, he'd be ready to leave, but nooo. He got discharged the day after he woke up. He went home, but the next day he was here bright and early, badgering me to let him in," she paused, looking thoughtful. "It is a weird coincidence that yesterday was the first day I let him in and you woke up this morning." Roxas listened to her whole speech, trying to piece together what he'd missed.

"Can you…tell me what happened?" he asked.

Carla looked down from the IV bag and shrugged. "All right. But you have to promise not to get up."

"I promise. I don't think I'd be able to go very far anyway. I'm too drugged up." Carla laughed, and it was a nice sound in the din of the hospital, amongst the beeping of the machines and the grim discussions in the hallway.

"Well, long story short, after you got shot, ghost-boy over there went back into his own body. We could tell because his brain activity picked up. Your friend…Oh, I can't remember her name…N-something…Axel's sister."

"Naminé,' Roxas grinned.

"Yes, that's right." Carla nodded. "Naminé. She thinks that Axel imprinted on his own body because you showed the ultimate act of loving sacrifice by potentially giving your life for his. Interesting theory, but I'm not buying it. Not scientific enough."

"Um…can you continue on, please?"

Carla shook her head and leaned down to check on the IV connected to his arm. "Right, sorry. Well, about thirty seconds too late, of course, the police come busting in and see their chief of police. They, in shock, stopped and stared, giving the bastard enough time to escape."

Roxas let out a gasp as he tried to sit up. Carla placed a hand firmly on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"He got away? After all that, he got away?" Roxas demanded. "I took a god damn bullet to the chest so that son of a bitch could get away?"

"Actually, Riku's grandmother is a lovely woman. Don't insult her till you meet her."

Roxas looked over at Axel, who was watching him with a satisfied smirk, still not having lifted his head from his arms.

"Hey," he added as an after thought. "Nice to see you're awake."

"Nice to see you…alive," Roxas said. Axel laughed, sitting up and stretching his long arms over his head.

"It's all because of you, Roxy."

Carla finished up whatever it was that she'd been doing, stuck his chart at the end of the bed, and made her way out. Roxas figured she was trying to give them some privacy, and he appreciated it.

"Don't move!" she instructed before she snapped the door shut behind her.

"What…what day is it?" he asked. He knew it was roughly a week later, but he wasn't exactly sure.

"Um…it's Wednesday. But…it's Wednesday after the Wednesday you think it is."

"So I really was out for a whole week?" Roxas muttered.

"I was out for a year," Axel shot back.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "You go ahead and be proud of that, Axel."

They were quiet for a few minutes, each thinking about how much they had gone through together in just a few days.

"Hey Roxy?" Axel asked at the same time that Roxas said his name as well.

"You go first," Axel offered up, sitting back to look at him.

Roxas suddenly felt really nervous, almost sick. He didn't want to say this, but he knew it was only fair. He didn't want Axel to stay because he felt like he owed a debt.

"It's…about what you said before…in the room. When you said that you loved me?"

Axel grinned and nodded.

"Well…I just want you to know that you don't have to do that."

The grin melted into a frown. "Roxy, what do you mean?"

"Well…you don't have to stay with me because you feel like you owe me, ya know? Go…be with Riku. You two have been waiting long enough and…me and Sora, we'll understand. We're tough enough."

Axel looked at him, his green eyes serious for a long time. Then he started to laugh. He threw his head back and howled, his body shaking with it.

"Damn, Roxy. Riku? What the hell makes you think that I want Riku?"

Roxas was stunned. "Well…I saw that memory…of you guys kissing…"

Axel's laughter picked up again and Roxas had to wait a minute for it to stop before Axel could speak again. He was a bit surprised that his family didn't wake up from the noise.

"Roxy, I was never with Riku! We've only ever been friends. That kiss you saw, it was both our first kiss, we just wanted to get it out of the way with each other so we wouldn't be nervous about it with other people! That's it, I swear," Axel promised. "Riku! Ha!" Axel laughed for another minute or so before he calmed down.

"What makes you think I'd want Riku now anyway? I told you I love you."

Roxas looked away, now feeling a bit stupid. "Well…I just thought…because I was the only one that could see you…"

Axel's eyes widened. "You thought I only wanted you because you were the only choice? Damn, Roxy, I'm not that desperate! I'm not sure if I like the way you think of me. I'm a little bit offended, actually."

Roxas shrugged, finally turning to look at him.

"I guess I'm just insecure."

"Yeah, I guess so," Axel retorted.

They were quiet again for a long time. How many times did the two of them just lapse into silence, trying to think of something to say? Was that bad?

"Oh hell, Roxy, move over," Axel grumbled. Roxas blinked in shock, scooting over until he reached the very edge of the bed. Axel climbed up next to him, wrapping an arm gingerly around his waist and resting his head on the pillow. Roxas didn't even question him, because he was too glad that Axel wasn't really mad at him. He moved a bit closer so he'd have less chance of falling off. He pressed himself against Axel's side, resting his head on Axel's chest. It was comfortable, actually. Almost as if he was made to fit perfectly into the space. The slightly spastic redhead looked at him, eyes serious, before he leaned down and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

Roxas didn't know if this whole thing with Axel would work out. He didn't know if Sephiroth would be caught and put to justice. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, might it be another ghost, a natural disaster, someone new ending up in the hospital, or just a peaceful day. But he did know that right here in Axel's arms he really didn't care.

"Hey Axel?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you, too."

--

A/N: And that is the first ending. The alternate ending is just a click away if you would like to read that as well. I implore you to review!


	18. With Me Tonight 2

DISCLAIMER: Well, that just says it all, doesn't it? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I have any affiliations with Squeenix (Although that would be pretty freakin' awesome).

Chapter 16

_Day? Don't know. Time? Don't know._

Axel let out a small gasp and started coughing angrily. He felt…extremely heavy.

"Axel? Axel, are you awake?" He tried opening his eyes, but was blinded by a bright white light. He groaned, raising a hand to shield his eyes, only to find that it was strapped to something.

"Wha' the hell?" he muttered. "Wha's goin' on?"

"Axel?"

He managed to open his eyes by blinking about ten million times. When everything actually came into focus, he could see that several people were leaning over him.

"Wow…this must be what animals at the zoo feel like," he grumbled. "Back up off of me, will you?" They obeyed and Axel pulled himself up, marveling at how heavy he felt.

"How are you feeling?" Riku asked.

"Really…heavy…"

He looked around in a daze. There was a brunette woman he was fairly sure he'd never met before in his life, Riku, Naminé, Kairi, Reno, his mother, Demyx, Zexion, and Sora. Sora…Roxas.

"Where's Roxas?" Axel demanded, sitting up straighter. "What happened to Roxas?" Axel couldn't really remember anything. He remembered watching Roxas get shot and falling backwards, almost as if in slow motion. It had been almost graceful, collapsing back onto the bed and then sliding to the floor all in one fluid motion. But after that…nothing. Axel pushed the blankets off himself and made to stand up, but the brunette woman placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him where he was.

"Stay where you are. Getting up is pointless."

"What happened? What happened to Roxas?" Axel begged.

"I can't reveal that to non-family…" she sighed.

"Sora," Axel said quickly, turning to face the brunet. "Please, tell me."

Sora looked away, his big blue eyes pain-filled. He looked so much like Roxas…

"Don't worry about it, So," Riku murmured quietly. "I'll tell him…"

"No," Sora shook his head. I should do it. I have to…"

Riku merely nodded, looking away while Axel was ready to scream in annoyance. Couldn't they just tell him? For god's sake, how was Roxas doing?"

Sora took a deep breath and looked looked straight into Axel's eyes.

"He…took a bullet to the chest and it pierced a lung. He almost drowned on his own blood. Luckily for him, he was in the hospital when it happened. They were able to save him at that point, but his lung collapsed and…well, it was a big mess." Axel could almost feel his heart stopping, waiting for the bombshell to drop.

Tears filled Sora's eyes and he choked through a slight sob, "He didn't make it out of surgery, Axel. My twin is dead." And his heart stopped. Immediately, he felt as if he'd died again (or was it for the first time?). Either way, he was going to die. He could feel his soul shattering. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fuckin' fair! Axel was alive, in his own body…and Roxas was dead.

Axel slumped back against the bed and stared past everyone looking at him blankly. Roxas was dead…and he hadn't done anything about it. Roxas was dead because he had been protecting Axel. Axel hadn't even really tried. He hadn't forcibly removed Roxas. He could have…he could have possessed him or shoved him out of the way…but he hadn't…and Roxas was dead.

"Axel, honey?" his mother spoke softly. "Did you know this boy?"

Axel didn't answer, too numb to speak. How could…how could every thing have gone all to hell? This wasn't supposed to happen. Sephiroth wasn't supposed to have shot Roxas. Roxas wasn't supposed to be dead, dammit! A flash of blue caught his eyes and his own green orbs connected with Sora's. So much like Roxas. But for the hair color, they could have been identical. It hurt terribly to look at him, to know that he would never touch his twin again, never hear his sweet laugh or see his adorable pout. It hurt so much, he had to tear his eyes away and close them. He heard the quiet sighs around him, and Sora's nearly silent sobs. The constant reoccurring sound eventually lulled him to sleep.

_Three days later, Friday, late night_

Roxas' scent was soaked into every inch of the room. Axel leaned back against the wall, hugging Roxas' pillow to his chest, his face buried in the soft case. The house was completely silent, a gigantic void of grief. He sat on Roxas' bed, once his own, and stared at the wall. It was all he could do. He wasn't ready to let go, even if he'd only known Roxas for a week. It hadn't taken much. Maybe it was the big blue eyes or the adorable pout, but he'd seriously fallen for his Roxy and fallen hard. And he'd never found out if Roxas returned his feelings. But did that really matter now?

He stiffened as the doorknob jiggled and opened, relaxing a bit when he saw Sora enter the room. Sora didn't look too shocked to see him, he merely sat on the end of the bed and stared at him in silence. They sat like that for a long time, neither saying a word, but both joined in a loss. Finally, though, Sora glanced away from him and spoke, "I feel half empty," he murmured. "Like a gigantic piece of me was just torn out and destroyed."

Axel was still silent. "It's…weird. Me and Roxas…we were kind of like one person. One soul split between two bodies. And now…it's like half my soul is just gone…and I'm not quite sure what to do about that."

Axel nodded. "I don't really know how you feel. I don't have a twin…but I've seen the way two connected and I know that Kairi and Naminé have a freaky close connection. I can't imagine losing someone so close to me."

Sora nodded. "Same thing for you. You…"Sora paused. "You loved my brother, didn't you?"

Axel nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"He loved you too, ya know," Sora said quietly. "I could feel it. We had a connection like that."

Axel had to admit, that didn't really make him feel better. In fact, it made it worse, with thoughts of what could have been. Him and Roxas, they really could have had one of those lasting relationships, he was sure. After all they'd gone through. Yeah…it could have worked.

If it wasn't for that bastard Sephiroth…they could have had something. It was bad enough that Sephiroth had gotten away. The police had been stunned enough at seeing their own chief, frozen long enough to let him escape. No one could find him now, but it was only a matter of time…and when they did…Axel would kill him. There was no doubt about that.

Sora sighed and looked around.

"I wanted to come up here and look around, but now that I'm here I feel like I'm trespassing." Sora stood and cast one final glance around the room.

"I'm going to bed. I'll see you later, Axel. Don't fall asleep up here, I don't know how mom would take it."

Axel nodded and watched as Sora made his way out of the room. He was trying to convince himself to go home to his new house when the impossible happened. Roxas appeared next to him on the bed, looking a bit put out. Axel blinked slowly, looking at him and blinking. He hadn't thought he was so out of it that he would start hallucinating.

"You're not hallucinating. You're just seeing my spirit. You see ghosts, just like I used to."

It took Axel a moment to process this information. "Wait…what? I thought you had to be a twin?" Axel questioned. It occurred to him that he should be freaking out and glomping the hell out of Roxas, but he couldn't get past the fact that he was seeing a ghost.

"I think it's because you lived in the spirit world yourself. You're still connected," Roxas said thoughtfully.

"Roxy…why are you here?" Axel whispered.

"I just…wanted to tell you that I love you…and ask you not to hurt Sora too much. He really likes Riku, so you have Riku let him down easy, please."

Axel was confused and pleased. Roxas loved him. "What does Riku have to do with anything?"

"Well…he's your real love, isn't he? Just don't hurt Sora."

Axel blinked at him and then laughed. He threw his arm over Roxas' shoulder, pulling him close. "No, Roxy. Riku and I aren't together. We never were. We shared our first kiss to get rid of the awkwardness, but that's it. I love you, and I told you that."

Roxas looked at him, his bright eyes dancing. "That's good, Axel. That's…all I'm here for. I just wanted you to know that. I'm…I'm leaving now, all right?"

Axel gripped his arm and shook his head violently. "No! No, Roxy, you can't just leave me!"

Roxas looked sad. "I'm dead, Axel. I have to go. My time for life is over, but you…you live long and well…fall in love and be happy, all right?"

Axel was about to protest, but Roxas caught his lips in a chaste kiss, silencing him quite efficiently. When he pulled away, Axel leaned his forehead against Roxas'.

"Please, Axel…do this if not for me, then for yourself and the people who love you. Just…don't forget me, all right?"

Axel almost had to laugh. "How could I ever forget you, Roxy? I love you."

Roxas smiled and hugged him tightly once more.

"I'll see you later, Axel. Much later, I hope." He reached up and hand and ran his thumb across Axel's cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen without permission. Axel leaned down and caught his lips once more, kissing him sweetly until he disappeared forever.

Of course he would never forget his Roxy…and he would be happy…eventually, if only for Roxas' sake.

--

Hm…I can't decide whether I like this ending or the other better. They're both quite interesting, if I do say so myself. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. It's been a great run.


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